July 9, 2026

Valkyries Daily: Six Straight, and Still Third

Golden State set a franchise record with its sixth straight win in Toronto, Janelle Salaün dropped a career-high 26 off the bench, and the Valkyries still couldn't gain ground on first because Cheryl Reeve broke the WNBA's all-time coaching wins record the same night.

Last night: Valkyries 83, Tempo 75

Golden State won its franchise-record sixth straight game Wednesday, outlasting the Toronto Tempo 83-75 at Coca-Cola Coliseum for the first win over the expansion club and the franchise's first ever game in Canada. The Valkyries are 16-7, 3-0 on a five-game road trip, and as the Associated Press noted, it was a game they won with depth rather than their starters.

Janelle Salaün led everyone with a career-high 26 points off the bench, 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from three, in just over 23 minutes, per the official postgame notes. Fellow reserve Kaitlyn Chen added 16, tying her career best for made field goals, and Kayla Thornton had 15 points and nine rebounds. The bench outscored Toronto's 52-20.

The game had a strange shape. Golden State trailed 17-11 after one, then blew it open with a 22-6 second-quarter run and a 30-point frame, capped by back-to-back-to-back threes from Gabby Williams, Cecilia Zandalisini and Thornton for a 41-31 halftime lead. Toronto answered with a 17-2 third-quarter burst and led 59-57 after three. Then Chen scored the first four of the fourth to spark a 12-0 run, and Salaün hit three triples inside the final two minutes to ice it.

Toronto (9-12, third straight loss) got 24 and eight from Isabelle Harrison. The Tempo played without Brittney Sykes (plantar fascia), Kiki Rice (ankle) and Temi Fagbenle (concussion), and lost center Nyara Sabally to a first-quarter knee injury.

Film room: the bench closed it

The number that explains this one is 52-20. Golden State's second unit outscored Toronto's by 32, one shy of the franchise record, and it was the unit that finished the job after the starters sputtered early and lost Gabby Williams to injury.

Salaün is the cleanest illustration. She took only 10 shots in 23 minutes but went 5 of 6 from deep, and she was a perfect 3 of 3 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, when her back-to-back triples turned a six-point game into a 12-point one. Chen, the other half of the closing pair, scored the first four of the fourth to flip a two-point deficit into a lead Golden State never gave back.

Underneath that, the Valkyries forced a franchise-high 20 turnovers while committing 14, the kind of margin a defense-first team built on league-leading ball security (10.5 giveaways per game, the only club under 11) turns into free possessions. Head coach Natalie Nakase leaned into the idea afterward: "We picked up the model from the Warriors of strength in numbers, because our bench has been doing a fantastic job stepping up."

Still third, and the door that didn't open

The setup yesterday was clean, and as covered in that issue: a Valkyries win plus a Minnesota loss would have pushed Golden State into second. The Valkyries held up their end. Minnesota did not.

The Lynx went into Connecticut and won 86-80, and in doing so made Cheryl Reeve the winningest head coach in WNBA regular-season history with her 380th victory, one past Mike Thibault. It was attempt number three after back-to-back losses. Minnesota is 16-6 and now sits a half-game ahead of idle Las Vegas (15-6) for first.

So Golden State (16-7) stays third, a game back of Minnesota in the loss column and half a game behind a Las Vegas team that has played one fewer game. The gap didn't close on a night the Valkyries won their sixth straight. It can still move this week: the Aces play tonight at expansion Portland, with A'ja Wilson questionable to return from the right ankle injury that has cost her three straight games, per the game tracker.

Next: at Connecticut, Friday

The road trip rolls on Friday with Golden State at the Connecticut Sun, tipping at 4:30 p.m. Pacific on ION and the Audacy app. It is game four of five on the trip.

Connecticut (5-17) just fell 86-80 to that same Minnesota team Wednesday and owns the league's worst record, but the Sun pushed the Lynx to the wire the night Reeve got her record and beat Minnesota 90-89 on Monday. They are a last-place team playing its best basketball of the season.

Injury watch: Gabby Williams' back

The one concern out of Toronto is Gabby Williams. The All-Star starter took a hard fall on a third-quarter rebound battle with Toronto's Maria Conde, grabbed her lower back and did not return, finishing with seven points in 18 minutes. The team called it a back contusion. Nakase downplayed it: "I actually did not check with medical, but she was smiling, so that's all I can say," per Madisyn Cunningham of Newsweek. Her status for Friday, and for the July 25 All-Star Game, is the thing to watch.

Tracking the league

• Reeve's record. Cheryl Reeve passed Mike Thibault with her 380th regular-season win and now holds the WNBA career mark outright, the Star Tribune reported. She already owned the combined regular- and postseason record and is tied for the most titles in league history with four.
• Clark returns, briefly. Caitlin Clark came back from a two-game back absence Wednesday and scored nine points in 16 minutes as Indiana lost 106-92 at Los Angeles. The Fever are managing a back-to-back: Clark sits Thursday at Phoenix, Aliyah Boston (lower leg) returns, per the IndyStar. Golden State visits Indiana July 15.
• Miles still out. Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles, an All-Star starter, missed her second straight game with a right calf strain Wednesday. Imaging is still pending, Cheryl Reeve said. Her timeline matters for the Lynx race and for the All-Star replacement slot that could still open for Veronica Burton.

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