Cecilia Zandalasini connected on a mid-range jumper with 3.9 seconds left to propel the visiting Golden State Valkyries to a 77-75 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday in College Park, Ga.
Zandalasini led Golden State (12-13) with 18 points and eight rebounds while Tiffany Hayes followed with 15 points and five assists. Carla Leite chipped in 12 points for Golden State, which rebounded from a season-worst 31-point loss to the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. Veronica Burton added 10 points for the Valkyries.
Jordin Canada paced Atlanta (15-11) with 21 points and eight assists, followed by Naz Hillmon’s 14 points and eight boards. Allisha Gray was limited to 12 points on 2-for-11 shooting for the Dream, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Trailing by six with less than five minutes left, Atlanta took the lead with an 8-0 run. Canada’s three-point play with 3:08 remaining gave the Dream a 75-73 lead.
Zandalasini answered with a game-tying layup at the 2:47 mark, then the Dream missed four shots and committed two turnovers leading up to Zandalasini’s game-winner. Brittney Griner’s mid-range jumper clanked off the front rim at the buzzer for Atlanta.
After the score was tied at 39 at halftime, neither team took a lead larger than three until a 9-0 Golden State run gave the Valkyries a 57-50 advantage with 3:33 left in the third.
Following an Atlanta timeout, Burton knocked down a 3-pointer to push Golden State’s lead to 60-50.
Reserve Kate Martin connected on her first 3-point attempt to give the Valkyries their largest lead at 67-55, then Laeticia Amihere added a layup just before the buzzer as Golden State took a 69-56 advantage into the fourth.
The Dream scored the first eight points of the final quarter to pull within five. Leite’s jumper stopped the bleeding and gave the Valkyries a 71-64 lead at the 7:17 mark.
After Atlanta jumped out to a 9-4 lead, Golden State answered with 11 straight points capped by Leite’s 3-pointer that gave the Valkyries a six-point edge with 2:38 left in the first quarter. Golden State took a 20-16 lead into the second.
From there, a 7-3 Atlanta spurt stamped with Canada’s 3-pointer knotted the score at 27.
Maya Caldwell’s triple gave Atlanta a 38-35 advantage before Hayes’ layup with four seconds left made it a 39-39 halftime score.
–Field Level Media
