{"id":761,"date":"2026-05-29T16:11:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T16:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=761"},"modified":"2026-05-29T16:11:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T16:11:01","slug":"rookie-juste-jocyte-answers-the-call-flashes-poise-in-valkyries-second-half-surge-vs-fever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=761","title":{"rendered":"Rookie Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 answers the call, flashes poise in Valkyries&#8217; second-half surge vs. Fever"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><span>SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 <\/span><span>Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117<\/span><span> quietly got up from her seat on the bench and walked to the Valkyries tunnel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=759\">Recruiting roundup: The June frenzy looms as Cal lands key quarterback and Elite 11 Finals unfold<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Before the Chase Center crowd could wonder what was coming, <\/span><span>Jocyt\u0117<\/span><span> had already climbed on the stationary bike, her legs churning while the Indiana Fever seized momentum early in the second half Thursday night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>To Jocyt\u0117, getting on the bike is simply her way of keeping her legs fresh. But to the fans inside the arena, the sequence has turned into something of a bat signal. When the bike starts spinning, everyone in the building knows she\u2019s about to enter the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Like her Valkyries debut on Monday, Jocyt\u0117, whose name is pronounced YOU-steh Yo-CHEE-teh, did not play a single minute in the first half of Golden State\u2019s <\/span><span>90-88 win<\/span><span> over the Fever. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase has been <\/span><span>upfront<\/span><span> that the Lithuanian rookie still doesn\u2019t know all the plays and isn\u2019t in the condition she needs to be in to play heavy minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But when the Fever came out of halftime with purpose \u2014 taking a 54-51 lead \u2014 and the Valkyries needed a spark, Nakase turned to her youngest weapon anyway. Jocyt\u0117, 20, logged just three points but played nearly 16 straight minutes, flashing the poise and two-way potential that\u2019s making it increasingly hard to keep her bike parked for long.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI hope that (tonight) says that they trust me and that I\u2019m doing something right,\u201d Jocyt\u0117 said. \u201cI really appreciate that trust. They put me in pretty early in the second half, which I didn\u2019t know if I was going to get in, but I hope that I didn\u2019t disappoint them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Jocyt\u0117 checked into the game at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter and got the crowd going with one shot.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With the Valkyries pushing the ball up the floor, Jocyt\u0117 got the ball isolated 1-on-1 with Fever star Caitlin Clark. The rookie scanned the floor before stepping back and draining a 3-pointer over the league\u2019s most popular player.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Instantly, the crowd erupted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMaking your first shot doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s at the beginning of the game, but just hitting that shot and putting yourself in that kind of bubble is a big moment,\u201d Jocyt\u0117 said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=757\">SV Chat: Iris Nemani on stewarding \u2018the heart of Stanford\u2019s cultural hub\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>It was the only shot she made all night, but it was the other things she did that allowed her to stay on the floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Jocyt\u0117 was a solid compliment to the Valkyries as a pick-and-roll ball handler, dishing out two assists and swinging the ball quickly for open looks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>On defense, Jocyt\u0117 wasn\u2019t afraid to throw her 6-foot frame to crash the glass and contest shots at the rim. After Jocyt\u0117\u2019s basket, Clark tried to go back at her with one of her patented 35-foot stepback 3-pointers. But Jocyt\u0117 didn\u2019t give the former Iowa star any space and forced an airball that the crowd let her know about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe way they\u2019re guarding us, we felt like just having another ball handle out there,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cJust her fluidity of making decisions and taking that role and obviously her composer as well. So yeah, we just decided to deal with her and she performed great.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Thursday night\u2019s game could be a sign that Jocyt\u0117 can be tracking toward becoming a real rotation player.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Nakase opted to go with Jocyt\u0117 over established veteran forwards like Kayla Thornton, Kaila Charles and Cecilia Zandalasini in the second half as the team needed an offensive threat on the floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While Jocyt\u0117 still has a long way to go to be a consistent factor on this team, she earned the respect of her teammates on Thursday night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s not easy. One, being a rookie in this league. Two, coming off the bench in this league. Three, not playing a ton in the first half, and then finding a way to immediately impact the game,\u201d point guard Veronica Burton said. \u201cIt\u2019s a real testament to her. Her composure is something that I\u2019ve noticed from the moment she came in along with her passing ability. And to just come in and know what we\u2019re doing is also hard when you come late (in the season).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=755\">AI \u2018voice cloning\u2019 scams are on the rise. Here\u2019s how to protect yourself<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jocyt\u0117 played nearly 16 straight minutes, closed out the game after not playing in the first half<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":760,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rookie Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 answers the call, flashes poise in Valkyries&#8217; second-half surge vs. Fever - 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=761\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rookie Just\u0117 Jocyt\u0117 answers the call, flashes poise in Valkyries&#8217; 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