Valkyries hold off comeback from Storm, win third straight game

SAN FRANCISCO — Despite being smaller at almost every position on the court, the Valkyries outmuscled the visiting Seattle Storm.

Behind a stingy defensive performance, the Valkyries defeated the Storm 76-70 on Saturday to win their third straight game.

Golden State led by more than 20 points in the second half, but Seattle made things close in the fourth quarter. The Valkyries closed out the final period strong to down the Storm’s comeback bid.

Saturday’s game took place in front of a crowd of 18,064 – the team’s fifth straight home sellout of the season.

Kayla Thornton led the Valkyries with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Carla Leite totaled 14 points. Temi Fágbénlé added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Skylar Diggins led Seattle with 21 points. Stanford alum Nneka Ogwumike had six points.

After a strong defensive first quarter that saw the Valkyries hold the Storm to 15 points, Golden State built its lead even further in the second.

A 12–2 run, capped off by a driving layup from Leite, pushed the Valkyries’ lead to 14 just two minutes into the period. Golden State led by as much as 15 and went into halftime with a 44-31 lead.

Despite being undersized at almost every position, the Valkyries held the Storm to 10 points in the paint and 37.9% shooting from the field in the first half. Kayla Thornton led Golden State with 11 points and eight rebounds through two quarters.

In the third, the Valkyries ballooned their lead to as big as 22 after a reverse layup from Fágbénlé.

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But even after going down big, Seattle didn’t lay down.

The Storm cut the Valkyries’ lead to just five with just under two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Fágbénlé closed the door on the Storm’s comeback after scoring a layup off an offensive rebound with 50 seconds left in the game that pushed the Valkyries’ lead back to seven.

Golden State improved its Commissioner’s Cup record to 3-2 and will play its final cup game on Tuesday at Dallas.