Veronica Burton scored 22 points, 13 of them in the second half, to help carry the visiting Golden State Valkyries to a definitive 94-76 win over the Dallas Wings on Friday in the American Airlines Center, the Wings’ home away from home.
The Valkyries (22-9) went to halftime up by eight points before building a 20-point edge late in the third period. Dallas made a tepid rally early in the fourth quarter but got no closer than 11 points as Golden State easily held on to capture its third straight game and its 12th in its past 14 outings.
The Wings (19-13) have dropped two consecutive contests and four of their past five.
Gabby Williams added 19 points for Golden State, with Kayla Thornton racking up 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Valkyries outshot Dallas 46.5% to 33.9% and had a massive 27-8 edge in assists.
Paige Bueckers led the Wings with 17 points but scored just four of those after halftime. Aziaha James added 13, Alanna Smith hit for 11 points and Jessica Shepard led Dallas with 11 rebounds. Rookie guard Azzi Fudd, the league’s No. 1 draft pick in April, missed the game with a sore right knee.
The Wings led for most of the first quarter. The Wings were up 21-20 with 1:05 to play in the period before Golden State reeled off the final six points, all coming from Tiffany Hayes at the free throw line, to grab a 26-21 lead after 10 minutes of play.
The Valkyries pushed the margin to as many as nine points after a three-point play by Williams at the 3:52 mark of the second period. Dallas cut its deficit to five points when Bueckers canned a jumper with 20 seconds remaining. But Williams had the final word of the half, hitting a 3-pointer with 3 seconds to play that granted Golden State a 44-36 edge at the break.
Bueckers led all players with 13 points before halftime on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor. Williams paced the Valkyries with a dozen points as Golden State held the Wings to just 32.3% shooting over the first two quarters.
The Valkyries opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run and eventually stokes their advantage to 56-39 after a running layup by Burton with 6:51 left in the period.
Dallas clawed to within 12 points when Bueckers hit a jump shot with 3:30 remaining but Golden State swung back, getting five straight points from Kaila Charles to expand the margin to 71-52.
–Field Level Media
