Salaun sparks Valkyries past shorthanded Tempo in return to Balhalla

Reporting from CHASE CENTER

Janelle Salaun scored a game-high 24 points off the bench Sunday as the Golden State Valkyries pulled away from the Toronto Tempo 96-79 at Chase Center, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The Valkyries (20-9) finished one point shy of their season high, and three teammates joined Salaun with at least 15 points apiece.

Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase said her team set the pace:

“I thought they shared the ball early tonight. I thought they did a good job, just kind of getting off of it, just because Tempo really wants to take away the paint … and we did defend, we got to go and play pace and play at a higher speed, which is harder to guard.”

Golden State came out firing from 3-point range, hitting three of its first four attempts to build a five-point lead midway through the first quarter. The Valkyries also welcomed forward Gabby Williams back to the starting lineup after she missed Wednesday’s game at Phoenix, and she looked like she didn’t miss a beat with seven points in her first seven minutes.

Toronto (10-19) played without its top two scorers, Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes, leaving an average of 41 points a game off the floor for the expansion side. Guard Julie Allemand picked up some of the slack, knocking down her first two shots from beyond the arc, and the Tempo did the rest of their first-quarter work inside, scoring 14 points in the paint.

Golden State carried its five-point lead through one quarter behind balanced scoring — eight different players recorded a made basket in the first 10 minutes.

Toronto’s struggles from deep continued with 10 consecutive missed 3-pointers, but forward Laura Juskaite kept the Tempo close by making her first four shots from the field.

A 9-0 Valkyries run capped by three straight 3-pointers from Williams, Veronica Burton and Salaun lifted Golden State to its biggest lead of the game at 39-26 halfway through the second quarter.

Toronto answered with five straight points out of a timeout from head coach Sandy Brondello. The lead stretched back to 13, but the Tempo refused to go away. Forward Nyara Sabally scored seven points during a 12-0 run to close the half, and despite being outshot by six from 3-point range, Toronto trailed by just one at the break.

Sixteen of Golden State’s first-half points came from its bench, led by Salaun’s eight on 50% shooting.

Valkyries center Kiah Stokes shared that her coach wanted to see more effort during their locker room chat at the half:

“[Nakase] was just kind of getting onto us about that, saying that we’re better than what we’re showing, and just because they’re missing a few players doesn’t mean we need to relax, and I think we all took it personal going out in the second half, and we just know what we’re capable of, and especially we can’t let our offense dictate our defense.”

Guard Kiki Rice gave Toronto its first lead since midway through the first quarter with a bucket in the paint, but Williams answered right back with a 3 to put Golden State up 51-49. The 3s finally started falling for the Tempo, too: Back-to-back makes gave Toronto its largest lead at 56-51.

Temi Fagbenle, who played for the Valkyries in their inaugural season, faced her former team for the first time this season. Fagbenle appeared in 39 games for Golden State, starting all but one, and averaged 7.4 points in 23.7 minutes per game. She received a pregame video tribute and a standing ovation from the Ballhalla crowd.

With 5:06 left in the third, Fagbenle committed a loose-ball foul on guard Tiffany Hayes, who stayed down on the court for about a minute before remaining in the game without assistance from the training staff.

An unsuccessful Toronto challenge at the 4:41 mark sparked Golden State, which reclaimed the lead on a 7-0 run that started with two Hayes free throws. Salaun converted a three-point play on a reverse layup, then stole Toronto’s ensuing inbound pass, and her teammates found her for another 3 to push the lead to 66-59.

Hayes opened the fourth with a three-point play to push the lead to nine. Rice answered with one of her own, prompting Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase to call timeout and reset her group.

With the lead at six, a Williams jumper and a Burton three-point play sent the home crowd into a frenzy. After a Toronto basket, Salaun kept rolling, scoring through a foul and adding the free throw. More free throws from Hayes made it a 14-point Golden State lead, and the Valkyries closed comfortably, never letting the margin dip back below double digits.

Like Salaun, Hayes delivered big off the bench, finishing with 15 points.

Up Next

Golden State and Toronto meet for the final time this season Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Chase Center.

Notes

Sunday’s game debuted the Chase Freedom Court, which will be used for both home matchups against Toronto. JPMorgan will donate $1,000 to the Golden State Community Foundation for every Valkyries basket made across the two games. … Attendance was 18,064.