What we discovered when the Valkyries’ late collapse led to their elimination from the WNBA playoffs

NBC Sports Bay Area first reported what we discovered when the Valkyries were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs due to a late collapse.

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San Jose: On Wednesday night, the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx arrived at Ballhalla South with the intention of forcing the Golden State Valkyries, who were ranked eighth, into the offseason.

The Valkyries were obstinate enough to refuse to cooperate. Except for the last quarter, they pushed back, harder than the powerful Lynx.

With its greater depth and talent, Minnesota took control of the fourth quarter and defeated the Valkyries 75–74 in Game 2, sweeping the best-of-three first-round WNBA playoff series 2–0.

Before Minnesota’s defense stiffened and gave them the drive to finish the comeback, Golden State led by as many as 17 points, exciting the SAP Center’s sellout crowd of 18,543. They led 63–49 going into the final quarter.

Monique Billings led the Valkyries with 15 points, while MVP candidate Napheesa Collier topped all scorers with 24.

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Three things to note from Golden State’s incredible first-season finale are as follows:

Defense Provides a Chance for Valkyries Golden State’s defense held opponents to a league-low 40.5 percent field goal shooting percentage and gave up a league-low 76.3 points per game. How will the Valkyries bounce back after losing Game 1 by 101 points on 51.5 percent shooting?

Very well, especially the first half.

Mostly by scurrying, scratching, and interfering with Minnesota’s offense, the Valkyries established a 13-point advantage (41–28) and held the Lynx to 34.3 percent field goal shooting, including 15.4 percent from outside the arc. Minnesota’s first-half score of 28 points is its lowest of the season.

The Lynx rallied as they shot 11 of 15 from the field and scored 47 points in the second half and 26 in the fourth quarter.

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Burton Attempts to Take on Too Much… Not Required Protect Following her script, Veronica Burton, who carried the majority of the Valkyries’ workload following WNBA All-Star forward Kayla Thornton’s season-ending knee injury in July, did what she was supposed to. She gave it her all, and the desired outcome was nearly achieved.

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Burton finished with 13 points on 4-of-12 field goals while playing a team-high 35 minutes. Against a defense that was stacked to keep her in check, she missed all four of her shots in the fourth quarter and went scoreless.

Billings scored 15 points off the bench to lead Golden State. Janelle Salaün and Cecilia Zandalasini both finished with 14.

Nakase Gets What She Paid For.

The WNBA fined coach Natalie Nakase an undisclosed sum for her scathing postgame remarks regarding the refereeing in Game 1, but it appears to have paid off early in Game 2.

Ninety-five seconds after tipoff, the game was called off against Bridget Carleton of Minnesota. Less than a minute after the first whistle, Minny’s Alanna Smith was given a loose-ball foul. The Lynx also lost the third and fourth whistles.

The Valkyries weren’t tagged for a foul until 1:47 left in the first quarter, and it was a reach foul against Burton. Golden State led 27–19 going into the second quarter after closing the period on a 7–3 surge after leading 20–16.

Final foul total: Minnesota 16, Golden State 14.

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