Veronica Burton scored 21 points on Saturday afternoon to help lift the visiting Golden State Valkyries to an 88-83 victory over the reeling Atlanta Dream in College Park, Ga.
Gabby Williams added 19 points and Janelle Salaun had 14 for Golden State (14-7), which won its fourth straight game and its third over Atlanta in the last 10 days.
Allisha Gray’s 22 points led Atlanta (12-9), while Rhyne Howard scored 19 and Angel Reese posted a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double. Reserve Madina Okot chipped in 11 points for the Dream, who dropped their fifth consecutive game.
Gray scored half of her points from the free throw line, hitting 11-of-16, but only converted 5-of-17 shots from the field.
Facing a seven-point halftime deficit, Atlanta began the third quarter on a 7-0 run, evening the score at 42 apiece on Reese’s layup. After Williams’ 3-pointer put Golden State ahead by three, Howard’s triple and Jordin Canada’s layup gave the Dream their first lead of the second half at 47-45.
Williams made consecutive 3-pointers to put the visitors ahead 55-52, before Okot scored seven straight to return the lead to Atlanta. The Dream led 59-57 after three quarters.
With just over four minutes remaining, Burton’s layup gave the Valkyries a 74-72 advantage. Reese then scored five in a row to give Atlanta a three-point edge with 3:16 remaining.
But Williams’ three-point play was followed by a Burton layup and Kaila Charles added a triple to stamp the critical 8-0 Golden State run. The Valkyries led 82-77 with 64 seconds remaining.
After Howard’s three-point play sliced the deficit to two, Williams’ mid-range floater doubled the margin with 37.7 seconds left. Burton’s steal and ensuing free throws gave the Valkyries a six-point lead with 20.2 seconds remaining.
But the Dream would not go down quietly. Howard’s fourth 3-pointer pulled the hosts to within three. After Charles’ turnover, Howard missed a potentially game-tying triple with 9.1 seconds left. Charles then drilled a pair of game-sealing free throws.
Golden State jumped out to an early 12-2 lead on Cecilia Zandalasini’s three-point play. Atlanta answered with an 11-0 run to grab its first lead.
Okot’s layup beat the first-quarter buzzer to give the Dream a 22-19 edge entering the second.
The Valkyries outscored Atlanta 23-13 in the second quarter. Salaun finished the first half with a personal 6-0 spurt to help Golden State take a 42-35 halftime lead. Salaun’s 11 first-half half points all scorers, while Reese’s nine led the Dream.
Atlanta misfired on 40-of-66 field goal attempts (39.4%), 18-of-26 shots from 3-point range (30.8%) and 10-of-33 (69.7%) from the free throw line.
–Field Level Media
