Valkyries win first game without All-Star Kayla Thornton as Janelle Salaün steps up

San Francisco Chronicle​

4 days ago

Everyone had one question on their mind heading into Friday's Valkyries game: What will the Golden State offense look like without All-Star Kayla Thornton?
Against Dallas, Janelle Salaün showed she might be able to fill the hole left by Thornton with a 16-point, seven-rebound effort in the Valkyries' 86-76 defeat of the Wings at Chase Center. Salaün played a team-high 34:05 for Golden State, demonstrating her threat as a defender in addition to her reliability to score with her fourth consecutive double-digit game. The French rookie contributed a team-high three steals.
Although the second-worst-in-the-WNBA Wings may not be the truest test of the Valkyries' promise without Thornton, Golden State showed it was still capable of winning without its leader. The team was also without Monique Billings, who sat out with a right ankle injury.
'(Thornton's) a big part of our offense and defense, but just all together, our team, her leadership, we're going to lose a lot of that,' Tiffany Hayes told the Chronicle. 'So it's going to be a lot of people that need to mimic what she gives us. She's one of a kind.'
And mimic they did. Five Valkyries scored in double figures Friday: Salaün, Hayes (17), Carla Leite (14, off the bench), Temi Fagbenle (11) and Cecilia Zandalasini (10).
Down two veterans, Golden State leaned on the leadership of 12-year veteran Hayes, who played 32 minutes and, in addition to leading the team in scoring for the fifth time, contributed a team-high five assists and three rebounds.
Valkyries 86, Wings 76
FG FT Reb
DALLAS Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Geiselsöder 30:14 4-7 0-0 1-9 2 3 9
Ogunbowale 33:32 5-9 3-3 0-1 3 5 16
Yueru 13:28 1-4 1-2 0-2 0 1 4
Bueckers 36:37 7-15 1-1 0-1 6 4 17
Quinerly 23:44 1-6 0-2 3-5 3 2 3
Jones 27:47 3-8 3-5 0-4 3 3 10
James 19:21 5-9 2-4 2-3 1 2 13
Carrington 15:17 1-6 2-2 1-4 1 4 4
Totals 200:00 27-64 12-19 7-29 19 24 76
Percentages: FG .422, FT .632.
3-Point Goals: 10-26, .385 (Ogunbowale 3-4, Bueckers 2-5, Jones 1-1, Quinerly 1-2, Geiselsöder 1-4, James 1-4, Yueru 1-4, Carrington 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 9. Team Turnovers: 1.
Blocked Shots: 2 (Geiselsöder, Jones).
Turnovers: 13 (Quinerly 4, Ogunbowale 3, Bueckers 2, Jones 2, Carrington, Geiselsöder).
Steals: 11 (Bueckers 4, Jones 2, Carrington, Geiselsöder, Ogunbowale, Quinerly, Yueru).
Technical Fouls: None.
Percentages: FG .422, FT .920.
3-Point Goals: 9-28, .321 (Salaün 3-8, Hayes 2-4, Rupert 2-4, Zandalasini 2-4, Amihere 0-1, Fágbénlé 0-1, Leite 0-1, Burton 0-5).
Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 1 (Fágbénlé).
Turnovers: 17 (Leite 3, Salaün 3, Zandalasini 3, Burton 2, Fágbénlé 2, Hayes 2, Amihere, Rupert).
Steals: 8 (Salaün 3, Amihere, Fágbénlé, Leite, Rupert, Zandalasini).
Technical Fouls: None.
Dallas 21 15 24 16 — 76
Golden State 10 20 33 23 — 86
A_18,064 (18,064). T_2:06.
Head coach Natalie Nakase has talked at length about Hayes' ability to lead quietly, adding Friday night that during rare moments — when she chooses to speak up — the team listens.
'Tiff is a great leader, you know, it's so nice to play with her, to have her as a teammate,' Salaün said. 'I think it's great to have people … with her experience, her resume, that can just make you feel good. Before the game, she told me, 'Trust your shot.' ... Just being in attack mode, and so it's nice to have a person like that. I think she makes us way better.'
Free throw shooting proved crucial Friday. The Valkyries made 23 of 25 from the line, while Dallas missed seven of 19.
Iliana Rupert played her first minutes donning the violet and black, but her initial stint was brief as she picked up two fouls in 48 seconds and went back to the bench. She returned to score all nine of her points in the third frame — including back-to-back 3-pointers.
'Illiana, shout out to her, because it was her first game and it's never easy to play your first game in this arena,' Salaün said. 'She plays with rhythm, with flow, like just has this feel for the game.'
The Valkyries trailed 21-10 after the first quarter, tying their lowest opening first frame of the season.
Golden State briefly found its rhythm with a 9-0 run to start the second quarter, but entered halftime down 36-30.
In the third quarter, the Valkyries went on an 8-0 run to pull within 50-45. A French connection in Salaün, Leite and Rupert combined for 24 points in the 33-point frame. capped by Golden State scoring the final three points to lead 63-60 heading into the fourth. The Valkyries shot 70.6% from the field, including 62.5% from 3-point range, during the quarter.
The teams were separated at most by five points through the majority of the final quarter, but the Valkyries wrapped it up by making 13 of 15 free throws.
Even in victory, the absence of Thornton wasn't far from the Valkyries' minds.
'We play for her, we know how she has a big role in the team, and we all know that we needed to step up to bring something more than usual. And I think we really succeeded to do this,' said Salaün.
The Valkyries hit the road this weekend as they place their first of five road games against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday morning.