Tiffany Hayes is out for another week for the Valkyries, so they have added another name to their roster via a hardship contract.
Center Elizabeth Kitley is joining Golden State on a weeklong contract, the team announced Wednesday after beating the defending champion New York Liberty 66-56.
Hayes went down with a knee injury on Aug. 22 and has not played since.
Center Monique Billings returned Tuesday from a 14-game absence due to an ankle sprain, so the addition of another center is a bit of a surprise. Temi Fágbénlé and Iliana Rupert held down the center position while Billings was out, and hardship-signed guard Bree Hall was waived Tuesday as Billings returned to the roster.
Kitley appeared in 12 games for the Las Vegas Aces this season, averaging 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds. She was drafted by Las Vegas last season No. 24 overall out of Virginia Tech while she was rehabbing from a torn ACL in the Hokies’ regular-season finale.
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The Valkyries have also been without forward Cecilia Zandalasini for the last two weeks with a calf strain, and All-Star Kayla Thornton is out for the season with a torn ACL.
Golden State’s win Tuesday night over the Liberty solidified the Valkyries’ playoff positioning. They are currently in sixth place, 1.5 games behind New York for fifth, a game ahead of seventh-place Seattle and 1.5 games ahead of Indiana, which is in the eighth and final playoff spot.
With four games left, they lead the ninth-place Los Angeles Sparks by 2.5 games, and their magic number to clinch a playoff spot in their inaugural season is two.
