Janelle Salaun saved eight of her team-high 21 points for a key run bridging the third and fourth quarters Tuesday night and the Golden State Valkyries completed a season-series sweep of the Toronto Tempo with a 92-82 victory in San Francisco.
Kayla Thornton chipped in with 20 points for the Valkyries (21-9), who had beaten the Tempo 96-79 at home on Sunday after securing an 83-75 triumph at Toronto in July.
For the third consecutive time, the Tempo (10-20) held a third-quarter lead and were down just 69-68 after two free throws by Kiki Rice with 1:22 remaining in the period.
But Toronto didn’t score again until a Julie Allemand layup with 6:54 remaining in the game, a stretch in which the Valkyries took command with 12 consecutive points.
Salaun got the run going on a three-point play with 2.9 seconds left in the third period, then added a layup and a 3-pointer, the latter capping the burst that opened an 81-68 lead. Kiah Stokes and Tiffany Hayes had Golden State’s other two hoops in the run.
The Tempo got no closer than seven the rest of the way as Golden State notched the 11th win in its last 13 games.
Salaun’s 21-point effort capped a terrific three-game season series against Toronto. She had a career-high 26 points in the road win in July before leading the way again with 24 points in the opener of the three-day, two-game sequence in San Francisco.
With a combined 33 points, Salaun and Hayes (12 points) once again led a dominant Golden State performance off the bench. After having outscored their counterparts 46-8 in Sunday’s win, the Valkyries’ reserves enjoyed a 37-13 margin in the rematch.
Veronica Burton aided the Golden State cause with 12 points, a game-high eight rebounds and seven assists. Gabby Williams added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Nyara Sabally went for 21 points for the Tempo, who lost their seventh in a row. Hitting five of her 10 3-point attempts, Maria Conde backed Sabally with 17 points, while Laura Juskaite had 11 points and Allemand a game-high eight assists and four steals to complement seven points.
Returning to action after missing Sunday’s game with a neck injury, Marina Mabrey put up 12 points for Toronto, while Aneesah Morrow totaled eight points in 16 minutes off the bench in her Tempo debut.
–Field Level Media
