{"id":3752,"date":"2026-07-04T19:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3752"},"modified":"2026-07-04T19:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T19:39:34","slug":"valkyries-instant-analysis-golden-state-comes-up-clutch-sweeps-atlanta-in-season-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3752","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State comes up clutch, sweeps Atlanta in season series"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The <\/span>Golden State Valkyries<\/span> have Atlanta\u2019s number and they provided it a third time in 10 days.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Golden State completed the season sweep of the Dream on Saturday afternoon with a <\/span>88-83 win<\/span>, notching its third win over Atlanta since <\/span>June<\/span> 24<\/span>. The win put the Valkyries within a game of the second-place Minnesota Lynx in the standings as they begin their five-game road trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Veronica Burton led the way with 21 points. Gabby Williams added 19 and three steals. Janelle Sala\u00fcn came off the bench and scored 14.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 22 points. Angel Reese had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite losing the battle on the boards, the Valkyries hit 13-of-34 3-point attempts and 17 turnovers that led to 23 points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries jumped out to a 12-2 start through the first three and a half minutes of the game, but would end the first quarter down three after scoring just seven more points in the period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first half had 10 lead changes and one tie, but Golden State took control toward the end of the second quarter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A 6-0 burst in the final two minutes of the first half gave Golden State a seven-point lead after the first 20 minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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While they lost the rebounding battle 19-13 in the first half, the Valkyries had nine steals and forced 10 turnovers to keep Atlanta\u2019s high-powered offense in check.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries went on a small scoring drought early in the third, going without a point until the 6:07 mark when Williams hit a 3-pointer from the left corner. Meanwhile, Atlanta took advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

In that stretch, the Dream scored seven unanswered and rebuilt some of the momentum they had in the first half to go into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dream got more aggressive throughout the fourth quarter, getting in the bonus by the six-minute mark.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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With the game tied at 77, Burton scored a layup on a backdoor cut with 1:38 left in the game. On their next offensive possession, Kaila Charles hit a corner 3-pointer to put the Golden State up five with just over a minute remaining.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Rhyne Howard put in an and-1 layup, Williams hit a dagger when she hit a heavily contested layup to make the score 84-80.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Atlanta had one more chance down three with 12 seconds remaining to force overtime. But Gray missed a left-wing 3-point attempt and Charles hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds left as the Valkyries escaped with a crucial road win.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries will travel to Washington to play the Mystics on Monday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rested Burton shines<\/b><\/p>\n

After five days of rest, Burton looked noticeably fresh against the Dream.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with her 21 points, Burton had five assists while taking on the assignment of speedy point guard Jordin Canada, who scored just seven points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The former Northwestern standout hit 6-of-9 shots from the field and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nakase proud of Williams<\/b><\/p>\n

On Thursday, Williams became the first player in Valkyries history to earn an All-Star starter nod.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams earned her second All-Star selection of her career, after getting the honor for the first time last season with Seattle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said she couldn\u2019t be more proud of the Oakland native.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was really excited. It\u2019s well-deserved,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cI think it was more really pure to see her reaction. When she had an opportunity to speak (to the team), all she did was compliment her teammates and the organization. I think that just shows you what a humble star she is. \u2026 Obviously very proud, well deserved and excited to see her play in Chicago.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Williams is the second player in franchise history to be named to the All-Star game. Williams\u2019 teammate Kayla Thornton became the Valkyries\u2019 first All-Star selection last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Veronica Burton, Gabby Williams hit big shots down stretch to open five-game road trip with a victory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nValkyries instant analysis: Golden State comes up clutch, sweeps Atlanta in season series - 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=3752\" \/>\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 comes up clutch, sweeps Atlanta in season series - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Veronica Burton, Gabby Williams hit big shots down stretch to open five-game road trip with a victory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3752\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-04T19:39:34+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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State comes up clutch, sweeps Atlanta in season series\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-04T19:39:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752\"},\"wordCount\":669,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4742e96b496fdf2194a9512fcd2e8905.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3752\",\"name\":\"Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State comes up clutch, sweeps Atlanta in season series - 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