Tiffany Hayes connected on three 3-pointers en route to a season-high 21 points and the Golden State Valkyries, rooted on by local favorites Stephen Curry and Megan Rapinoe, rolled past the visiting Seattle Storm 84-57 on Sunday night in San Francisco.
Laeticia Amihere snatched a game-high eight rebounds to complement 15 points, while Veronica Burton and Kate Martin, each of whom drilled a pair of 3-pointers, chipped in with 15 and 11 points, respectively, for the Valkyries (9-7), who completed a 4-1 homestand with a second consecutive win.
Skylar Diggins went for a team-high 18 points for the Storm (10-7), who lost for a second time against the expansion club this season.
Burton’s first 3-pointer came as part of a game-opening 7-0 burst, giving Golden State a lead it would never relinquish.
The pull-away gained full steam in the third quarter despite an undisclosed injury suffered by Kayla Thornton, the Valkyries’ top player. Following a collision in the first minute of the period, Thornton left the court for the remainder of the game.
The key absence didn’t derail the Valkyries, who ran up 31 points in the 10-minute quarter while building a 65-44 lead. Burton poured 12 points into the flurry.
Hayes hit eight of her 13 shots from the field, helping Golden State outshoot the visitors 48.4 percent to 27 percent. The hosts outscored the Storm 24-18 on 3-pointers, holding Seattle to 6-for-28 accuracy from beyond the arc.
Burton had five rebounds, a team-high five assists and two blocks, helping the Valkyries add to an impressive homestand that included a win over the Indiana Fever.
Diggins shot 6-for-13 for the Storm, but her teammates were harassed into a cumulative 14-for-61. Diggins also found time for a game-high six assists along with five rebounds.
Erica Wheeler had 13 points and Zia Cooke added 10 off the bench for Seattle, which was opening a four-game trip.
Storm star Nneka Ogwumike, a standout at Stanford in her college days, was held to eight points, her second-lowest total of the season. Her season low came in her previous San Francisco Bay Area homecoming, when she scored six on June 14.
–Field Level Media
