History made: Valkyries win first game in franchise history, beating Washington Mystics in dramatic fashion

SAN FRANCISCO A cold shooting night didn t stop the Golden State Valkyries from making history on Wednesday night In front of another sellout crowd of at Chase Center the Valkyries defeated the Washington Mystics - marking their first win in franchise history Golden State - shot just from the field and only from behind the three-point line but kept the high-scoring Mystics in check Veronica Burton did everything on the floor for Golden State scoring points snatching nine rebounds and dishing out five assists Kayla Thornton added points It s more a credit to the players than myself Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase reported Credit goes to our whole staff and credit to our players for stepping up In her season debut French forward Janelle Sala n scored points and grabbed four rebounds Washington guard Brittney Sykes led all scorers with points Mystics rookie Kiki Iriafen the former Stanford star had her second consecutive double-double with points and rebounds In a back-and-forth final quarter the Valkyries were the ones who hit all the big shots A from Burton with under two minutes left gave Golden State a one-point advantage On the next possession Thornton hit an and-one -pointer from the left corner to push the lead to five Burton officially closed the door on the Mystics - on a reload from the left wing that made the points - Despite making just two of its -point attempts in the first half Golden State hung on to a - lead at the break after Burton hit a fading buzzer-beating Golden State made of shots at the free throw line and forced turnovers Sala n and Thornton each had seven points to lead Golden State at halftime Related Articles Valkyries seek first win as unbeaten Washington Mystics visit Chase Center What we learned from Valkyries season-opening loss to L A Sparks Valkyries second-half comeback falls short as Golden State drops season opener to L A Sparks Expansion Valkyries make history with WNBA opener at Chase Center Bay Area vs L A Valkyries Sparks to ignite California rivalry on WNBA s opening night In the second quarter Golden State s starting shooting guard Tiffany Hayes went back to the locker room after a collision with Washington forward Shakira Austin caused a bloody nose She did not return Despite missing s in the first quarter the Valkyries only fell behind three points after the first minutes Golden State started off in a matchup - zone that forced four first-quarter turnovers and held the Mystics to shooting from the field The Valkyries will hit the road for the next three games starting with an away event against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday Games on the road are laborious but I think it s just about building off our momentum Burton noted We had a lot of good things but we also had a lot to learn from and so we just take it one tournament at a time