The short-handed Golden State Valkyries returned from the FIBA Women’s World Cup break with a trademark stellar defensive effort, limiting the Portland Fire to their lowest output of the season in an 82-66 victory Friday night.
Kaitlyn Chen buried a career-best five 3-pointers on a 17-point night, fellow reserve Laeticia Amihere went for a career-high 17 and the Valkyries (30-11) moved within one game of the best record in the WNBA with a fifth straight win.
The victory came without international stars Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaun and Cecilia Zandalasini, who were rested after their leading roles in the recently completed World Cup in Germany.
Without three of their top five scorers, the Valkyries tightened the defensive clamps in the second quarter, limiting the visitors to three field goals and just 10 total points.
Playing their second game in two nights since the World Cup break, the Fire (16-26) managed a one-point lead after the first period, scoring 20 points in the process. Emily Engstler, Megan DiLeo and Holly Winterburn hit 3-pointers for Portland in the opening 10 minutes.
But the Fire didn’t make their first field goal of the second period until near the midpoint, by which time they’d fallen behind 30-22.
Golden State led 40-30 at halftime, but then just 52-46 before finishing the third quarter on a back-breaking, 15-3 run to open an 18-point margin. Chen and Amihere had 3-pointers in the pull-away.
Kayla Thornton and Tiffany Hayes chipped in with 13 points apiece for Golden State, which now trails the first-place Minnesota Lynx (31-10) by just one game with three to play. Hayes also found time for a game-high seven assists, while Kiah Stokes grabbed a game-high-tying nine rebounds and Veronica Burton snatched six steals.
Frieda Buhner led Portland with 14 points, while Carla Leite, after sitting out Thursday’s home loss to Phoenix in the Fire’s return from the break, added 12 to complement a team-high six assists. Nyadiew Puoch contributed 11 points and eight rebounds to the cause, while Engstler tied the Valkyries’ Stokes for game-high rebound honors with nine.
The Fire, who also scored 66 points against the Atlanta Dream in May, shot just 36.1% overall and 27.6% on 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
