Valkyries doomed by sloppy play, fall to last-place Wings led by Paige Bueckers
After stringing together a three-game winning streak, the Golden State Valkyries couldn’t keep up their momentum and took a bad 80-71 loss to the last place Dallas Wings on the road.
The Valkyries were outrebounded 40-27 and turned the ball over 16 times in the defeat.
In her first start, center Monique Billings had a season-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds. Wing Kayla Thornton scored 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Guard Tiffany Hayes returned after missing the last four games and came off the bench, scoring 10 points.
Dallas Wings rookie sensation Paige Bueckers totaled 20 points, four rebounds and four steals to snap the Wings’ seven-game losing streak.
The former UConn star and first overall pick in April’s draft came into Tuesday’s game averaging 17.4 points, 6.1 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 41.7% from beyond the arc.
Dallas guard Arike Ogunbowale totaled 19 points.
Dallas took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter. The two teams traded baskets to start the final period, but Dallas’ offense started to break away at the midway point.
The Valkyries scored just one point in the final five minutes of the quarter and couldn’t stop the Wings on the glass or in the paint.
The Valkyries were short-handed, but elected not play newly signed players Kaitlyn Chen, Chloe Bibby and Aerial Powers.
The Valkyries struggled for most of the first half, but were kept afloat by multiple timely baskets from Billings and Thornton. Dallas led by as much as 10 in the first half and were flowing offensively as the Wings had 11 on 13 made baskets.
Thornton and Billings combined for 23 points and six rebounds in the first half. After two quarters, Dallas led 39-36, marking just the third time this season it led at halftime.
A sloppy first quarter that saw the Valkyries commit five turnovers and make just 4 of 10 shots put Golden State behind early. Using a 7-0 run to close the period, Dallas led 23-16 after the first quarter – the first time the Wings had a lead after the first 10 minutes of a game this season.
The Valkyries finished Commissioner’s Cup play with a 3-3 record.
Golden State will return home on Thursday to play Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.
Thornton wins player of the week
Prior to Tuesday’s game, the WNBA announced Thornton won Western Conference Player of the Week after she averaged 20 points and 11.5 rebounds in two wins over the Los Angeles Sparks and the Seattle Storm. She shot 43.8% from the field in that stretch.
Thornton won the award for the first time in her career and became the first player in Valkyries history to do so.
Atlanta Dream forward Allisha Gray won player of the week in the Eastern Conference.
Former Bay Area preps star signs with Wings
The Dallas Wings signed former Archbishop Mitty standout Haley Jones to a hardship contract on Tuesday morning.
Jones was a healthy scratch from Tuesday’s game.
Jones has struggled since getting drafted sixth overall by the Atlanta Dream in 2023 out of Stanford. Jones was cut by Atlanta last month and signed a hardship contract with the Phoenix Mercury on June 1. She was waived by Phoenix a week later and now lands on her third team this year.