{"id":8044,"date":"2026-08-31T04:10:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8044"},"modified":"2026-08-31T04:10:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T04:10:02","slug":"tiffany-hayes-kayla-thornton-shine-as-valkyries-gain-ground-on-first-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8044","title":{"rendered":"Tiffany Hayes, Kayla Thornton shine as Valkyries gain ground on first place"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 Tiffany Hayes scored 18 points, Kayla Thornton added 17 and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Portland Fire 86-69 on Sunday in their final game before the FIBA World Cup break.<\/p>\n

Read more Instant analysis of 49ers\u2019 initial 53-man roster at NFL deadline<\/a><\/p>\n

The Valkyries (29-11) pulled within two games of WNBA-leading Minnesota. Golden State has four games remaining, and its opponents (Portland twice, Seattle and Los Angeles) have a winning percentage of .325 (39-81).<\/p>\n

The Lynx, who won the season series 2-1 and hold the playoff tiebreaker, play New York and Connecticut before back-to-back games against Indiana and Caitlin Clark \u2014 those teams are a combined 60-59 (.504) \u2014 to close the season.<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Chen had 15 points for Golden State. Veronica Burton and Kaila Charles each scored 11.<\/p>\n

Chen hit a 3-pointer that capped a 13-0 run and gave Golden State a 15-4 lead a little more than five minutes into the game, and the Valkyries led by as many as 19 points in the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Read more A woman somehow survived being hit by an Amtrak train in Richmond. Now she\u2019s suing the city<\/a><\/p>\n

Jordan Harrison hit a 3-pointer that capped a 12-3 run and trimmed the Fire\u2019s deficit to 30-21 with six minutes to go in the first half. Kayla Thornton answered 14 seconds later with a short jumper that sparked a string of 15 consecutive Valkyries points as Portland went scoreless for the next five-plus minutes.<\/p>\n

Emily Engstler and Megan DiLeo scored 12 points apiece for the Fire (16-24) and Bridget Carleton added 11.<\/p>\n

All-Star Gabby Williams, Janelle Sala\u00fcn and Cecelia Zandalasini did not play for the Valkyries, while Portland\u2019s Carla Leite \u2014 who leads the team in scoring (15.9 per game) and assists (6.3) \u2014 and Frieda Buhner missed the game in preparation for the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Read more Armed man at large after shootout with Oakland Police<\/a><\/p>\n

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Golden State Valkyries beat Portland Fire 86-69 on Sunday in final game before FIBA World Cup break<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nTiffany Hayes, Kayla Thornton shine as Valkyries gain ground on first place - 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=8044\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tiffany Hayes, Kayla Thornton shine as Valkyries gain ground on first place - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Golden State Valkyries beat Portland Fire 86-69 on Sunday in final game before FIBA World Cup break\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8044\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-31T04:10:02+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=8044#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8044\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Tiffany Hayes, Kayla Thornton shine as Valkyries gain ground on first place\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-31T04:10:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8044\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8044#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/3463227c06d7af8780e94c3bd4dc5348-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8044#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8044\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=8044\",\"name\":\"Tiffany Hayes, Kayla Thornton shine as Valkyries gain ground on first place - 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