{"id":6161,"date":"2026-08-03T04:38:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T04:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161"},"modified":"2026-08-03T04:38:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T04:38:49","slug":"valkyries-rout-shorthanded-toronto-tempo-to-snap-two-game-losing-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 The Golden State Valkyries are back in the win column.<\/p>\n

Golden State had lost two games in a row coming into Sunday night\u2019s matchup with the Toronto Tempo, but the Valkyries overcame a second-half deficit to win 96-79. The Valkyries had won a franchise-record nine in a row before the consecutive losses.<\/p>\n

Read more San Francisco Firebells\u2019 debut in Women\u2019s Professional Baseball League is a winner<\/a><\/p>\n

But facing a Toronto team that was missing All-Star Marina Mabrey and recent trade acquisition Aneesah Morrow, Golden State shook off a midgame slump to seal the victory late and\u00a0move into a tie with Las Vegas for the second-best record in the WNBA behind Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found six or seven players today that wanted to play with maximum effort,\u201d Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. \u201cThey wanted to empty the tank.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday also marked the return of Gabby Williams, who started the All-Star game a week ago but was held out of the Valkyries\u2019 loss Wednesday at Phoenix for \u201creconditioning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valkyries\u2019 Janelle Salaun led all scorers with 24 points off the bench for Golden State (20-9). Veronica Burton scored 17, while Williams and Tiffany Hayes each had 15.<\/p>\n

Salaun wasn\u2019t impressed, however, with the official scorer, who gave Kiah Stokes four blocks for the game. Salaun was convinced that Stokes, who was a game-high plus-30, swatted five shots.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had five blocks,\u201d Salaun quipped. \u201cIt\u2019s actually \u2013 it\u2019s not good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Told about this, Nakase quickly fixed Stokes\u2019 block total on her stat sheet.<\/p>\n

Nyara Sabally led Toronto (10-19) with 19 points. Kia Nurse scored 16 and Laura Juskaite added 15.<\/p>\n

The lighthearted postgame mood belied what became a tense environment at halftime when Toronto closed the half on a 12-0 run to trail by one point.<\/p>\n

Toronto was without its All-Star Mabrey, who missed the game with a neck injury. Recent trade acquisition Morrow also missed the game due to return-to-play conditioning.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Nakase didn\u2019t think Golden State fell asleep at the wheel, but she was thoroughly displeased with the level of effort she saw at the end of the half.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should bring it, or they\u2019re going to hear something very uncomfortable,\u201d Nakase recalled saying.<\/p>\n

Read more Valkyries stand pat at WNBA trade deadline, express confidence in current group: \u2018Don\u2019t mess with it\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite being significantly shorthanded, Toronto was competitive for most of the game, building on its late surge in the second quarter to grasp the lead for a good chunk of the second half, including a five-point lead midway through the third quarter. A late-third-quarter run put the Valkyries up 67-61 entering the fourth.<\/p>\n

Then Golden State took control down the stretch, lengthening the lead early and scoring 29 points in the fourth to ensure a comfortable final five minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wasn\u2019t happy with our effort,\u201d Stokes said of Nakase. \u201cSo she kind of got into us in a timeout and was basically saying like, \u2018Get it together or go sit in the locker room.\u2019\u201d And we\u2019re all very competitive. We want to win, and that was just the little extra motivation we needed. But hopefully, going forward, we don\u2019t need her to kind of like spaz out and get on us like that. Respectfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valkyries\u2019 first home game of the second half was attended by a sellout crowd of 18,064 fans.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 return<\/h3>\n

After missing Golden State\u2019s first game after the break, Williams was a game-time decision and played 19 minutes in the Valks\u2019 win after being listed as questionable before tipoff.<\/p>\n

Nakase indicated that she would have liked to play Williams more but was held back by Golden State\u2019s medical staff. Williams previously dealt with a back injury earlier in the season and missed a game against Connecticut on July 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe looked great,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t play her that much. That\u2019s kind of the protocol, which is really smart from our medical team, and so we really tried our best to manage it. The times that she was kind of rolling, (we let her go). I mean, shoot, she ended with a nice stat line.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut more importantly, you can see her fight, her effort. You saw her getting a lot of deflections that led into transition opportunities. So that\u2019s the Gabby that we miss, that activity on the ball, and then creating extra possessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our special Valkyries newsletter for game analysis, scores, and everything you want to know about the team from Ballhalla.<\/p>\n

Read more New San Mateo cafe serves country flair and iced doughnut-muffin pastries<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gabby Williams returned to the court and Janelle Salaun scored 24 as Golden State knocked off Toronto without All-Star Marina Mabrey and recent acquisition Aneesah Morrow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nValkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak - 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=6161\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gabby Williams returned to the court and Janelle Salaun scored 24 as Golden State knocked off Toronto without All-Star Marina Mabrey and recent acquisition Aneesah Morrow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T04:38:49+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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T04:38:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161\"},\"wordCount\":770,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161\",\"name\":\"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T04:38:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6161#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak - Next City Digest","og_description":"Gabby Williams returned to the court and Janelle Salaun scored 24 as Golden State knocked off Toronto without All-Star Marina Mabrey and recent acquisition Aneesah Morrow","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-03T04:38:49+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak","datePublished":"2026-08-03T04:38:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161"},"wordCount":770,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161","name":"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-03T04:38:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4d85e044a2d578dd48cce6fe03018054-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6161#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Valkyries rout shorthanded Toronto Tempo to snap two-game losing streak"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}