Valkatraz: Valkyries finish regular season with top home record

SAN FRANCISCO – Ear-splitting cheers reverberated through Chase Center on Saturday night.

They roared for Veronica Burton’s standout defensive rotations. They lost their mind during each successive Juste Jocyte 3-pointer.

They stood in unison and let loose when Tip Hayes’ brother proposed to his partner – she said yes! – during the second quarter.

The place that had been packed out to its capacity of 18,064 night after night lived up to its nickname of Ballhalla as the fans celebrated their final regular season home game by spectating at full volume for over two hours.

With Golden State’s 70-57 win over the Storm, the Valkyries concluded the regular season with a 17-5 record in the Bay Area, the highest number of home wins in the WNBA this season.

“We want to make sure Ballhalla after is a celebration and it’s a party,” coach Natalie Nakase said. “”We don’t want to take this for granted at all. It’s remarkable.”

The paying public enjoyed an early offensive onslaught at the expense of the hapless Storm.

Golden State led 49-25 at halftime, but the Storm made it competitive in the fourth quarter while the Valkyries offense went cold. Golden State was playing the second night of a back-to-back down three of their top players.

Speaking of back-to-backs, Awa Fam’s consecutive 3-pointers cut the lead to just 64-52. The Valkyries led 66-55 with five minutes left.

Kaitlyn Chen’s driving layup helped push the lead back to 13 with four minutes left, and that is where the score would remain for the next three minutes as neither team could put the ball in the basket.

Kaila Charles led the Valkyries with 16 points, while Veronica Burton had nine points and three assists.

Jocyte scored 11, all in the first half. She sustained an injury to her left leg and was ruled out of the game in the fourth quarter. Nakase said that she was not too concerned by the injury, and Jocyte had no issue chatting with fans and walking around the court after media availability was over.

“I think we had a good offensive flow,” Charles said. “We had some ups and downs, but I think we should just continue to stay with it.”

Laeticia Amihere put in 11 points and Hayes scored 10.

Onetime Valkyries draft pick Flau’jae Johnson scored 17 for the Storm.

A year ago, the Valkyries had to relocate to San Jose as the Laver Cup rendered Chase Center unusable for the first round of the postseason.

This year, the Valkyries will have their vaunted San Francisco homecourt advantage at their disposal for every playoff game.

In front of the loudest fans in America, playing for a national television audience on Amazon Prime, the Valkyries put on a typical defensive masterclass. Entering the game allowing a league-low 75.2 points per game, the fewest by a wide margin, the Valkyries were seeking to keep more than just their five-game winning streak going.

They had not allowed more than 70 points in seven straight, and it was obvious early on that Seattle, which ranked second-to-last in offensive rating (102.6) had no shot at snapping the streak.

Even with Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaun still re-acclimating to the team after a long stint at FIBA, and Ceci Zandalasini recovering from an illness, the Valkyries did not miss a beat. The center combo of Laeticia Amihere and Kiah Stokes plugged up the interior, holding Seattle to just 26 points in the paint.

The Valkyries (31-11) are now a half-game behind the Lynx for the top seed, and cannot fall lower than the third seed.

They play at Portland on Tuesday and finish the regular season at the Sparks on Thursday.