Kayla Thornton poured in a career-high 29 points and the Golden State Valkyries took advantage of the absence of Chicago standout Kamilla Cardoso to hold off the visiting Sky 83-78 on Friday night.
With her sidekick away from the team to represent Brazil in the AmeriCup competition, Angel Reese put up 17 points and 18 rebounds for Chicago, which led 64-61 after a Reese layup with 7:20 to go.
The Valkyries (8-7) countered by scoring the next 12 points, half on a pair of 3-pointers by Kate Martin, to go up by nine.
Another layup by Reese had the Sky (4-11) within 79-76 with 32.4 seconds to play, but Golden State capped the sixth win in the past eight games with three free throws by Tiffany Hayes and one by Kaitlyn Chen.
Thornton, who had never previously scored more than 22 points in her 10-year WNBA career for four teams, hit eight of her 15 shots overall and four of her seven 3-point attempts. She also went 9-for-10 at the free-throw line, where the Valkyries enjoyed a 20-13 scoring advantage.
Hayes chipped in with 13 points to go with a game-high-tying four assists. Martin had 11 points and Chen a season-best 10 for the Valkyries, who have now beaten the Indiana Fever, Connecticut Sun and Chicago on a five-game homestand that ends Sunday against the Seattle Storm.
Laeticia Amihere had a team-high nine rebounds off the bench for Golden State, which remained without four regulars who were either competing in the EuroBasket tournament or resting after completing the international event.
Reese shot just 7-for-16 for Chicago, which stayed in the game by shooting 13-for-33 from beyond the 3-point arc. Kia Nurse drilled five 3-pointers in 11 tries to account for a majority of her 17 points off the bench, while Rachel Banham made three from deep en route to 11 points.
Ariel Atkins finished with a team-high 20 points and a team-high-tying three assists for the Sky, who have lost seven of their past nine games.
–Field Level Media
