Valkyries takeaways: What went wrong against cellar-dwelling Connecticut Sun
Playing their second game since losing All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury, Golden State still had a chance to claw back to .500 on Sunday.
Facing the Sun, the team with by far the worst record in the WNBA, the Valkyries played arguably their worst game of the season after flying in to Connecticut at 9 a.m. local time on Saturday and tipping off at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Coming off a rousing 86-76 home victory over the Paige Bueckers-led Dallas Wings on Friday, the visitors’ road woes continued as Connecticut rolled past Golden State 95-64 in the first game of the Valkyries’ five-game trip.
“I just have to do a better job of organizing this day in between, and giving them more direction on how this day works out,” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase said, noting that she is still learning how to navigate the WNBA schedule as a head coach.
The Valkyries (11-13) are 8-4 at Chase Center, but dropped to 3-9 on the road.
Against the Sun (4-20), the offense was a mess, committing 24 turnovers that led to 34 Sun points. Connecticut outscored Golden State 14-2 on the fastbreak.
“We learned what not to do, and how to stay together when things hit the fan,” Valkyries guard Veronica Burton said. “But this is one I think we’ve got to scrap.”
Iliana Rupert, playing in her second game with the team since arriving from France, led the Valkyries with 13 points and four rebounds.
Meanwhile, .four Suns players scored in double figures, with living legend Tina Charles scoring 24 and grabbing six rebounds in just 19 minutes. Marina Mabrey and Bria Hartley each scored 15.
The Sun, which had lost 14 of its previous 15 games heading into Sunday, led 49-33 at the half.
The Valkyries fell a half-game behind the Aces for the eighth and final playoff spot, and will try to get back in the winner’s column against Atlanta on Tuesday.
Zoning out
The Valkyries have been an elite defense all season, entering Sunday’s game ranked No. 3 in points allowed per game (78 ppg) and first in opponents’ FG% (40.2%).
That shot-stopping prowess did not show up in the Northeast as Golden State was picked apart by a Sun squad that was bottom of the league in points per game (73.3).
The Sun were 7 of 17 from 3-point distance in the first half, with Bria Hartley putting in 3 of 4 in the first 20 minutes.
The worst team in the league eviscerated Natalie Nakase’s vaunted zone, forcing the Coach of the Year frontrunner to scrap it in the second half.
“I’ll give Connecticut credit, because they played really hard today and with a lot of energy, and we just had zero,” Nakase said. “It wasn’t our day. We’re missing free throws, layups, and that’s just out of character.”
The Valkyries missed Thornton, who spent the first half of the season guarding the other team’s top player and being an elite help-side defender. Monique Billings also did not play.
Man-to-man hardly worked much better, as Golden State trailing by 23 just four minutes into the third quarter.
Thornton-less forward rotation
Earlier in the week, Nakase made it clear that no individual player on the Valkyries would be expected to replace the offensive production of Thornton, the team’s lone All-Star who will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury.
Cecilia Zandalasini, Janelle Salaun and Laeticia Amihere split time at the forward spot. Salaun, the team’s top shot-creator from the wing, put in nine points.
But Zandalasini and Amihere were less prolific. Amihere was 1 of 7, and Zandalasini took just one shot.
Martin is money
Wing Kate Martin did not play against Dallas on Friday, but the second-year Iowa product remained ready for her moment against Connecticut.
On a day when the Valkyries were stuck in neutral, her helter-skelter play-style and willingness to bomb away from deep was one of the team’s few bright spots. She subbed in for the first time in the second quarter and quickly made two 3-pointers.
Martin, who put in nine points, just missed out on scoring in double-figures for the eighth time this season.