{"id":2221,"date":"2026-06-16T04:36:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2221"},"modified":"2026-06-16T04:36:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:36:05","slug":"valkyries-instant-analysis-golden-state-suffocates-sparks-in-dominant-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2221","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State suffocates Sparks in dominant win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The Los Angeles Sparks entered Monday\u2019s game with one of the most electric offenses in the league.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Woman killed in stabbing at South San Jose home<\/a><\/p>\n

Behind the WNBA\u2019s leading scorer Kelsey Plum, bonafide star Nneka Ogwumike and All-Star Dearica Hamby, the Sparks have averaged just over 90 points a night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But on Monday, the Valkyries made the Sparks\u2019 first trip to the Bay Area a living nightmare.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries won their third straight game, defeating the Sparks 78-58 behind a suffocating defensive performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Plum, who averages 26.6 points per game, was held to nine points on 3-for-10 shooting from the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sparks shot 33% from the field and hit just three of their 21 3-point attempts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gabby Williams led the Valkyries with 16 points and four rebounds. Kaila Charles added 13 points in 21 minutes off the bench. Veronica Burton finished with 12 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rae Burrell led the Sparks with 13 points.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Golden State led by as much as 24 as it cruised to a win and improved to 9-5.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries made a point to not let the Sparks get going early.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden State built a 15-point first-quarter lead by forcing the Sparks into multiple contested, late clock jumpers. Los Angeles shot 3-for-16 through the first 10 minutes and had just 10 points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Trump forces taxpayers to bail out Oakland coal project<\/a><\/p>\n

In the second quarter, the Valkyries used a 10-0 run to take a 45-26 lead at halftime.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Los Angeles made a small run in the third, outscoring the Valkyries 21-16. But the Valkyries\u2019 lead was just too big to overcome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries forced Plum to foul out at the 4:25 mark of the fourth quarter, effectively ending the Sparks night.<\/p>\n

Charles produces off the bench<\/b><\/p>\n

Charles has seen her minutes get cut since she was taken out of the starting lineup for Cecilia Zandalasini.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But on Monday night, she turned in her best game of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The former Maryland standout hit 5-of-7 of her shots from the field, including knocking down 2-of-3 3-point attempts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She finished the game with a plus-minus rating of +13.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Kate Martin returns<\/b><\/p>\n

In her first game back since being waived by the Valkyries, the former Iowa standout played 11 minutes and was a solid contributor on defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Older Californians are becoming homeless faster than any other age group<\/a><\/p>\n

She hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter to cut the Valkyries\u2019 lead to 16.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valkyries hold WNBA leading scorer Kelsey Plum to nine points<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nValkyries instant analysis: Golden State suffocates Sparks in dominant win - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2221\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State suffocates Sparks in dominant win - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Valkyries hold WNBA leading scorer Kelsey Plum to nine points\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2221\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T04:36:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State suffocates Sparks in dominant win\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T04:36:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221\"},\"wordCount\":409,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2c1a5b7dd19b3c50cdb25e1f35a831ff.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2221\",\"name\":\"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State suffocates Sparks in dominant win - 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