SAN FRANCISCO – In their first season, the Valkyries turned Chase Center into Ballhalla.
A place where the expansion team has created its identity as a hard-nosed, resilient team that has a raucous crowd behind it.
Though the Valkyries lost what could be their final home game of 2025 at Chase Center on Saturday, Golden State fans have left their mark by creating one of the league’s toughest environments for visiting teams.
The Valkyries set the all-time WNBA record for average attendance (18,064) and total fans (397,408) on Saturday after they sold out their 22nd home game of the year. Golden State eclipsed the second-place Indiana Fever – a team that boasts superstar Caitlin Clark – in total attendance by over 48,000 fans.
Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase sits on the bench before the start of their WNBA game against the Dallas Wings at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The Valkyries may not play at Chase Center again this season as their lone guaranteed home playoff game — Game 2 of their first-round series — will take place at SAP Center in San Jose.
But Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said that Ballhalla will travel with them wherever they go.
“It’s the Bay Area,” Nakase said. “Even if we’re in San Jose, it’s still considered the Bay so we know that they’re going to travel, our fans are going to come.”
Before the regular season ends, here are the top moments that defined Ballhalla:
Thornton hits first bucket
Kayla Thorton will forever be etched in Valkyries history as the player who scored the franchise’s first point. In the Valkyries’ season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks, Thornton recorded the first made basket in franchise history when her turnaround jumper from the top of the key swished through the net. It was a simple shot, but one that won’t be forgotten.
Golden State Valkyries’ Kayla Thornton (5) celebrates her 3-point basket against the Phoenix Mercury in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, July 14, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Vanloo lights up scoreboard
The season opener gave us another memorable moment when former Valkyries point guard Julie Vanloo ignited a third-quarter run that fans still talk about to this day. Vanloo hit three consecutive 3-pointers, a la Stephen Curry, to bring the Valkyries back in a game that saw them go down early in the second half. The moment gave the Bay Area an inkling of what the rest of the season would look like and set the tone for the home environment for the rest of the season.
Valkyries’ Julie Vanloo (35) yells in celebration after making a 3-point shot against the Los Angeles Sparks during the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Burton seals playoff fate
Chase Center has become notorious for raucous crowds, although the Warriors’ audience has lost some of its edge in San Francisco. The atmosphere of Ballhalla has been compared to old Warriors crowds at Oracle Arena in Oakland. After Veronica Burton slipped past Paige Bueckers on Thursday and finished a tough layup through contact to essentially clinch the Vallkyries’ spot in the playoffs, Golden State fans hit a decibel level not seen since We Believe.
Golden State Valkyries’ Veronica Burton (22), Golden State Valkyries’ Janelle Salaun (13) and Golden State Valkyries’ Carla Leite (0) celebrate the go ahead basket against the Dallas Wings towards the end of the fourth quarter of a WNBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. The Golden State Valkyries clinch a spot in the playoffs after defeating the Dallas Wings 84-80. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
First win
Related Articles
Lynx, led by StudBudz, snap Valkyries’ five-game winning streak
Valkyries set WNBA home game attendance record in first year of existence
History made: Valkyries secure playoff spot with grit, heart
The Leite Show: French rookie provides spark as Valkyries punch playoff ticket
Valkyries to play first playoff game in San Jose due to arena conflict
The Valkyries reached their first franchise milestone early. In their second game of the season, Golden State defeated an upstart Mystics. The Valkyries shot 31.9% from the field in that game, but established their identity as a defensive juggernaut, thoroughly shutting down the fast-paced Mystics attack to garner their first win of the season.
Shocking the Aces on national TV
The two-time champion Las Vegas Aces came to the Bay Area, expecting to roll the expansion team. But instead, the Valkyries utterly dominated coach Natalie Nakase’s former team in a primetime game on ABC. Golden State held the Aces to their lowest point total of the season up to that point in what became a 27-point win. It was the Valkyries’ biggest win up to that point, and a moment Golden State put the rest of the league on notice.
Martin, Chen go off
The two most popular players on the Valkyries are Kate Martin and Kaitlyn Chen. And it’s not particularly close. So when the duo ignited a win against the Chicago Sky earlier this season, the crowd at Chase Center went crazy. The two guards closed the fourth quarter in a close win over the Sky and star Angel Reese with each making dazzling plays down the stretch. The two combined to score 14 second-half points to lead the Valkyries to a victory.
Golden State Valkyries’ Kaitlyn Chen (2) dribbles against the Connecticut Sun in the second quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Shutting down Caitlin Clark
When the Indiana Fever play road games, they often seem like miniature satellite versions of Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where many of the paying spectators don No. 22 “Clark” jerseys and boo the host team. That was not the case in July, when Clark got her first experience with a Bay Area crowd that did not care about her star power, and an elite Valkyries defense that held her to 3 of 14 shooting.
Golden State Valkyries’ Tiffany Hayes (15) guards Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark (22) in the second quarter of their WNBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, June 19, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group
