The Golden State Valkyries get an opportunity to avenge arguably their most disappointing loss of the season when they host the Chicago Sky on Wednesday night in San Francisco.
The WNBA’s second-place squad has lost just nine times all season, including twice to the top team in the league (Minnesota) and three times to the defending champions (Las Vegas).
Their other losses came on the road to the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever, at home against a rapidly improving Washington Mystics team … and 69-63 to a Chicago team (12-21) that has beaten just three teams with a winning record all season.
That upset occurred in the Sky’s second game of the season, when Chicago held Golden State (23-9) to 29.3% shooting from the field, only seven 3-pointers in 26 attempts and its second-lowest point total of the year.
While remaining one of the league’s top defensive teams, the Valkyries have become vastly improved on offense, averaging 91.5 points during their current four-game winning streak.
Golden State coach Natalie Nakase credited point guard Veronica Burton, who has contributed 29 points and 14 assists — with just one turnover — to the team’s two most recent wins over the Dallas Wings and Los Angeles Sparks.
“Consistency, that’s huge growth for her,” Nakase gushed to reporters after Sunday’s 84-78 road win over the Sparks. “She’s the ultimate pro on how she approaches it — constantly asking for more film, constantly asking questions, and that’s her hunger to want to just be better every game. She says, ‘I got you, you’re the leader. But I got them on the court.’ You just love players like that.”
While the Valkyries find themselves battling Minnesota and Las Vegas for the top record in the league, the Sky have lost two in a row to fall out of playoff contention.
They are coming off a 97-88 defeat on Monday at Seattle, a game in which Chicago’s DiJonai Carrington returned to the court after having been ejected for a flagrant foul on Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham on Saturday.
Storm fans gave Carrington a nice ovation when she entered Monday’s game as a reserve, and she responded with a team-high 26 points.
Beforehand, Carrington made no apologies for the previous incident.
“It might happen again,” she told reporters. “That’s just how I play, I’m always going to go all-out and try to get a stop. But like I said: I’m never intending to hurt somebody regardless of anything, outside noise or whatever the situation may be.”
–Field Level Media
