July 17, 2026

The Valkyries Come Home to a Team That Just Shot 29 Percent

Golden State comes home from the second perfect 5-0 road trip in WNBA history on a franchise-record eight straight, and Saturday's visitor just lost 75-56 on 29% shooting. Minnesota tips first, Las Vegas is frozen, and a plane breakdown postponed Dallas-New York.

The homecoming, and the mess waiting at the door

The Valkyries landed back in the Bay this week with the longest winning streak in franchise history and the second perfect 5-0 road trip the WNBA has ever seen (the 2021 Storm were the first, per Elias). The eight-game run has Golden State at 18-7, second alone, and the Chase Center opener against Washington tips Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific.

What's waiting is a Mystics team in a slump. Washington had quietly won two in a row before Portland walked into CareFirst Arena and routed them 75-56 on Thursday. The Mystics shot 29% from the floor, 2 of 21 from three, and turned it over 19 times. They trailed 28-13 after one quarter and 43-20 midway through the second, were down 47-31 at halftime, and Portland led by double figures the entire second half. Shakira Austin's 19 and nine was the only line that showed up.

The matchup that mattered in the first meeting is gone, though. Golden State won 62-49 at Washington on July 6, the fewest points the franchise has ever allowed, but Sonia Citron sat that one out with right knee soreness. She's back now, and she's the engine of everything Washington does. Thursday she played 29 minutes and went 2 of 8, 0 of 5 from deep. So the team Golden State held to 49 was missing its leading scorer, and the version coming Saturday just scored 56 with her.

The standings race turns while the Valkyries play

Golden State woke up Friday 1.0 game behind Minnesota (19-6) and 0.5 ahead of idle Las Vegas (17-7). The Aces don't play again until July 20 at Toronto, so the Valkyries have two home games before Las Vegas takes the floor again, a chance to build a cushion over third and chase down first.

The math moves Saturday night while Golden State is on the floor. Minnesota hosts Portland at 5 p.m. Pacific, half an hour before the Valkyries tip, so the Lynx result could land during the second half at Chase. Portland just beat Washington by 19, so a Fire upset plus a Valkyries win would pull Golden State into a tie for first. A Lynx win keeps it a game back.

Dallas (16-8) stayed frozen in fourth. The Wings' game against New York was postponed Thursday after a mechanical issue on the Liberty's charter flight, rescheduled for July 20. Dallas's season-best five-game streak goes on hold, and the Wings sit 1.5 games behind Golden State with a game in hand.

Film room: the league's best defense against its worst offense

Saturday is a defense-versus-defense game, and the numbers say it should be ugly. Golden State allows a league-low 76.1 points per game and posts the WNBA's best defensive rating (101.2). Washington allows 82.9, third-fewest. But the Mystics score 80.0 per game, 14th in the league, with a dead-last 100.2 offensive rating. Two top-three defenses, and one offense ranked 15th.

The pattern that fits: Golden State runs shooters off the arc and protects the paint, and Washington just went 2 of 21 from three while two of its top scorers, Citron and Kiki Iriafen, combined to shoot 3 of 16. Over the eight-game streak the Valkyries have held opponents to 69.3 points a night, nearly seven below their own league-best season average, and four of the eight never reached 70. The first meeting ended 62-49 without Citron. The question Saturday is whether a healthier, slower Mystics offense can crack 65 against the league's stingiest defense, or whether this turns into another night in the 60s.

How to watch Saturday

Golden State hosts Washington at Chase Center on Saturday, July 18. Tip is 5:30 p.m. Pacific, doors at 4. The Bay Area broadcast is on KPIX+ and KMAX 31, with Monumental Sports Network carrying it in Washington. Radio is 95.7 The Game, Audacy, and ESPN 1320. The Valkyries are 8.5-point favorites with a total of 149.5, which lines up with two top-three defenses and a dead-last offense. The rematch is Monday at 7 p.m. Pacific, Hello Kitty Plushie night for the first 10,000 fans, before the All-Star break.

Tracking

Miles. No update from Cheryl Reeve on Olivia Miles's left ankle since Wednesday's scare; the Lynx are off until Saturday's Portland game, and her Team Spoon All-Star spot stays uncertain until a timetable lands.

Burton. The All-Star replacement door stays open for Veronica Burton: Kelsey Plum has missed six straight and won't be reevaluated until late July, and NBC Sports lists Burton among the leading replacements, though one outlet argues Azzi Fudd first. Miles's ankle is a second door.

Williams. Healthy. She returned from the back contusion Wednesday, started, and led Golden State with 16, three steals, and a block, the only Valkyries All-Star starter good to go for the home stretch.

Indiana tonight. The Fever (14-10), the team Golden State just took the season series from, host the last-place Storm (6-20) Friday at 7:30 Eastern, then turn around for New York on Saturday.

What they said

Head coach Natalie Nakase, on the road trip that built the streak (OurSports Central postgame notes):

We're getting closer and closer together. We used this road trip to actually bond and become tighter knit, because when you're on the road you don't really have your own schedule... I even said "let's stay another night," they said "we gotta go home coach." ... A record's a record, but I'm focused on one game at a time...

Gabby Williams, on what winning ugly on the road means for what's next:

Road games are almost always ugly. You're never going to have a game where everything's going in... I think that us being able to win in these environments just sets us off for the second half of the season, and for the playoffs.