SEATTLE -- The Seattle Storm got their revenge against the Golden State Valkyries, 67-58, in an early afternoon battle. Following their loss against the Washington Mystics, the Storm executed late in the game to finish on top. With the win, Seattle moved to 14-9 before the All-Star break. Despite the Valkyries moving to 10-12 with the loss, they show a lot of promise heading into the second half of the season. The game started out low-scoring with neither team gaining a firm advantage. 

After the end of the first quarter, Golden State took a 15-14 lead. The Valkyries were led by Temi Fágbénlé (TEM-ee fag-BEN-lay) and Carla Leite (KAR-luh LAY-teh), who scored five points each. Leite finished the period with one assist, while Fágbénlé had two rebounds and one block. Skylar Diggins scored five points and had three assists in the first quarter. Nneka Ogwumike (NEH-kuh Oh-gwoo-MIH-kay) had four points and four rebounds in the period, setting up for another nice game. She finished with 22 points, eight rebounds, and one block in the win. Ogwumike also moved into sixth all-time in WNBA scoring, passing Candice Dupree. After recovering from an illness, Lexie Brown played 13 minutes and delivered a strong performance. She scored seven points, a season-high three rebounds, and one assist. After the game, Storm Head Coach Noelle Quinn talked about using Brown strategically against Golden State.

 “...Good energy transferred from Lexie [in her minutes],” Quinn said. “I thought she had a good day yesterday [at practice] and, you know, had an opportunity to get back in the groove a little bit with practice and get some reps…. I thought that she played well against the Valkyries before, and [has] given us an opportunity to put a shooter on the floor, especially when [Golden State] goes zone…so when you put a shooter on the floor like that, you have to honor that, and if you don’t, she’s able to do what she did and knock a few [shots] down….” 

Following a low-scoring quarter for both the Valkyries and the Storm, the second period was more of the same.

Before Seattle and Golden State finished the half, the score was tied, 31-31. Ogwumike entered the locker room with 11 points and six rebounds. Gabby Williams also played well in the first half, scoring four points and four rebounds. Janelle Salaün (Jan-el Sah-luhn)scored six points and grabbed four rebounds before the Valkyries finished the first half. Golden State was also aided by Cecilia Zandalasini (Che-CHEE-lee-a Zan-da-LAH-si-ni) and her five points. She also grabbed one rebound in the half. Despite the loss, Golden State Head Coach Natalie Nakase (NAH-kah-seh) praised  Zandalasini’s development and how she’s played this season.

“When we got [Zandalasini] in the expansion draft and we played against her even last year when I was at the Aces, I was like ‘who is that?’,” Nakase said after the loss. Chechi is a beautiful basketball player. She’s smooth, she reads the game really well,... and she’s a playmaker without people even realizing it, you know….One thing that really hit my heart was with Chechee our last game versus Phoenix,... and I called a reset [timeout] play, and we ran this play multiple times…[Phoneix] already knew who was going to shoot it, but we designated [the play] for [Zandalasini], and she gave that up because she knew [Salaün] was rolling….”  

Nakase described Zandalasini’s selflessness in the game before against the Phoenix Mercury, and how she’s always been like that since she started playing in the league.

The Storm defense stepped up in the second quarter, forcing seven turnovers, which turned into three points. With the Valkyries and Seattle knotted up at the break, the third quarter became the beneficiary for one team in particular.

After making adjustments for the second half, the Storm took a 48-44 lead heading into the fourth. Although Erica Wheeler scored two points in the first half, she took over in the third, finishing with 13 points. Tiffany Mitchell scored five points through three quarters, adding one steal. The Valkyries struggled to make their shots in the game, only making 15 of their 43 attempts from the floor (34.9%). Kayla Thornton had a difficult time making shots, only scoring four points on one made shot in seven attempts (14.3%). Despite failing to close out their previous game, Seattle used the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Seattle won the game in the fourth quarter, 19-14, which completed the second half performance. As they get back to their winning ways, the Storm will get a week off before their next home game. Diggins and Wheeler will be participating in Indianapolis for the All-Star Skills Challenge on Friday, July 18th. Following that entertaining day, Ogwumike, Williams, and Diggins will represent Seattle in the All-Star game on Saturday, July 19th. The Valkyries will use their break to work on the adjustments for the second half of the season, with their next game on Friday, July 25th, against the Dallas Wings.