Juste Jocyte scored eight of her career-high 11 points in a second-quarter flurry and the Golden State Valkyries moved within a half-game of first place in the WNBA by closing out their regular-season home schedule with a 70-57 triumph over the Seattle Storm on Saturday night.
Electing to rest international stars Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaun and Cecilia Zandalasini for a second straight night in the wake of the FIBA Women’s World Cup, the Valkyries (31-11) didn’t skip a beat, rolling to a sixth consecutive victory.
The win allowed Golden State to move into a tie with first-place Minnesota (31-10) in the win column as the league begins its last week before the playoffs. The Valkyries have just two games remaining — at Portland and at Los Angeles — while the Lynx, who own the tie-breaker, have three games left, including a home-and-home sequence against the Indiana Fever to wrap up their schedule.
As they had done a night earlier against the Portland Fire, the Valkyries played the visitors to a near-standstill in the first quarter before dominating the second period.
Up just 21-19 after 10 minutes, Golden State ran off in the second period, outscoring the Storm 28-6 to open a 24-point halftime lead. Jocyte drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the run, while teammates Tiffany Hayes, Kaitlyn Chen and Kaila Charles connected on one apiece.
The hosts extended the lead to as many as 32 points in the third period before the Storm made a bit of a push. Down 57-25 with just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, Seattle outscored Golden State 32-13 the rest of the way, getting as close as 66-55 with still 5:16 to go.
But Seattle (8-34), which shot just 33.3% for the game, got no closer as the teams combined for just six total points the rest of the way. Golden State finished at just 37.7%.
Rookie Flau’jae Johnson led the Seattle comeback and finished with a game-high 17 points. Awa Fam chipped in with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Charles paced a balanced Golden State attack with 16 points to complement a game-high 12 rebounds. Laeticia Amihere matched Jocyte’s total with 11 points, while Hayes, who had a game-high six assists, and Chen finished with 10 points apiece.
In a defensive struggle in which Seattle was held to just one more point than its season-low, Charles and Kayla Thornton each secured four steals, while Kiah Stokes had four blocks.
–Field Level Media
