The defensive-minded Golden State Valkyries will attempt to work their magic once again on high-scoring Marina Mabrey when the Toronto Tempo visit San Francisco for the first of two meetings over a three-day stretch on Sunday night.
The clubs will duel again Tuesday.
The Valkyries (19-9) and Tempo (10-18) met July 8 in Toronto, with the visitors using a 26-16 fourth-quarter finish to pull out an 83-75 victory.
Golden State’s Janelle Salaun was the leading scorer that night with 26 points, somewhat of a rarity in a game involving Mabrey this season. She missed all three of her 3-point attempts and totaled just 11 points in the defeat.
Mabrey, who has gone over 20 points 13 times this season, has since averaged 2.9 3-pointers and 21.9 points over seven games.
Toronto enters the two-game sequence having lost five in a row, despite the fact that Mabrey has had 25- and 26-point performances. She went for 30 the last time the Tempo won, 93-91 over the New York Liberty on July 12.
The All-Star will have a new sidekick in San Francisco with the Tempo having traded for Connecticut’s Aneesah Morrow, who averaged 11.6 points in 20 games for the Sun this season.
Morrow is expected to join her new team for the start of a five-game trip.
“The message in going on the road trip is: We’re going to compete,” Toronto coach Sandy Brondello promised this week. “We have to show some fight. When we’re winning, it’s all good, and when we’re losing, it’s all bad.
“We’ve got to face adversity, and we are. What kind of team do we want to be? We can still fight, regardless of the score.”
The Valkyries have dealt well with adversity this season. They’re currently on a two-game losing streak, their third of the year. On the previous two occasions, they responded to the threat of a third straight defeat with four- and nine-game winning streaks.
Golden State point guard Veronica Burton expects better than the performance that led to a 91-89 road loss to the Phoenix Mercury in the team’s most recent game Wednesday.
“I think even being in that game was impressive for us because we did a lot of things wrong,” she told reporters afterward. “There’s a lot to learn from – just being on the same page, keeping our composure. (We’ve) just got to bounce back from it.”
–Field Level Media
