{"id":5049,"date":"2026-07-21T04:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5049"},"modified":"2026-07-21T04:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T04:37:07","slug":"kaitlyn-chens-career-night-cant-power-valkyries-to-milestone-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5049","title":{"rendered":"Kaitlyn Chen\u2019s career night can\u2019t power Valkyries to milestone victory"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 For a moment, the Valkyries looked like they were going to extend their winning streak to 10.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Redwood City driver charged after passenger chasing his pickup is killed<\/a><\/p>\n

Golden State overcame a low-scoring first half to gain a comfortable nine-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. Second-year point guard Kaitlyn Chen gave the Valkyries a huge spark off the bench to ignite a spirited scoring attack in the second half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But somehow, the Valkyries fumbled away the game in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,064 at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden State collapsed in the fourth quarter, conceding a big Washington Mystics run in late in the fourth quarter as it fell 90-82<\/span><\/p>\n

Chen led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field<\/span><\/p>\n

Kayla Thornton added 15 points and Veronica Burton had 12.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Former Stanford standout Kiki Iriafen led all scorers with 23 points and added 12 rebounds for Washington. Sonia Citron had 17 points and six assists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Early in the third, the Valkyries conceded a 9-0 run to Washington as they went down 10 out of the halftime break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Letters: Outlawing rent-setting algorithms won\u2019t end housing crisis<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Mystics used their size inside, taking advantage of the Valkyries\u2019 smaller frontcourt, as Iriafen and Lauren Betts were dominant down low.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything flipped once Chen got hot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The former Connecticut standout scored nine points to open the fourth quarter, giving the Valkyries a comfortable cushion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Golden State went up nine with 4:44 left after Chen hit an acrobatic layup at the rim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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But that would be the last of the Ballhalla crowd\u2019s cheers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington went on a 14-3 run late in the fourth period, capped off by a Iriafen basket, giving the visitors a 82-80 lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries couldn\u2019t buy a bucket from that point and Washington hit enough free throws to seal a stunning win on the road.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Labor-backed citizens group appeals North San Jose data center proposal<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chen scores career-high 20 points, but Valkyries lose final game before All-Star break to Mystics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKaitlyn Chen\u2019s career night can\u2019t power Valkyries to milestone victory - 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=5049\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kaitlyn Chen\u2019s career night can\u2019t power Valkyries to milestone victory - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chen scores career-high 20 points, but Valkyries lose final game before All-Star break to Mystics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5049\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T04:37:07+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=5049#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5049\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Kaitlyn Chen\u2019s career night can\u2019t power Valkyries to milestone victory\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T04:37:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5049\"},\"wordCount\":332,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5049#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d523506c74271ce8647daf8ff0b14d48.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5049#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5049\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=5049\",\"name\":\"Kaitlyn Chen\u2019s career night can\u2019t power Valkyries to milestone victory - 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