The Valkyries led in the fourth quarter but could not capture a road win in Phoenix on Thursday night as the Mercury beat them 86-77.
Golden State took an eight-point lead when Veronica Burton made a layup with just over four minutes to play. Phoenix responded with an 18-1 run to finish the game as the Valkyries went 0-for-7 on field goals with two turnovers the rest of the way. They have now lost four games in a row.
“Missed free throws. Missed layups. Missed opportunities,” Burton said in a televised postgame interview. “But we grow from it, we learn from it. And it’s part of the game.
“It’s early. We’re young, we’re learning.”
Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase was disappointed in the way her team played down the stretch, which included two turnovers in the final 17 seconds while trying to inbound the ball.
“Yeah, just be composed. We kind of lost our composure,” said Nakase, who was also alarmed by her team’s overall poor play on defense, despite its 11 steals, including four by Cecilia Zandalasini.
“From the jump. Yeah, I asked them, you know, ‘where’s our energy from the jump?’ ” Nakase said. “It was the first time, to be super transparent, I’ve never seen that. So just, we didn’t throw any punches at the beginning. We were reacting, we were waiting. You know, the first time I’ve seen it.
“I’ve got to figure out what I can do to make sure their buttons are ready to go from the jump. So, yeah. It’s on me.”
Burton led the Valkyries (2-5) with 16 points, including 9-of-11 foul shooting, with both misses coming in the fourth quarter.
Rookie guard Lexi Held scored eight points over the final four minutes for Phoenix and had a game-high and career-high 24 points overall on 4-of-9 shooting on 3s and 6-of-6 free throws.
Valkyries center Temi Fagbenle scored eight points over the last five-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter to give Golden State a one-point lead at halftime. That was her biggest stretch in a 12-point, 11-rebound night.
Fagbenle acknowledged the Valkyries have room for improvement, particularly with their late-game execution.
“We just messed up,” she said. “We did not stick to what we know and what we’ve planned, and props to them for capitalizing on our mistakes.”
As for a remedy to their late-game woes? Simple, said Fagbenle. They just need to “band together and make it work. Just finish.”
Golden State forwards Cecilia Zandalasini and Kayla Thornton as well as guard Julie Vanloo all scored 10 points. Thornton scored her 2,000th career point early in the third quarter.
Phoenix forward Satou Sabally had six points in the Mercury’s finishing run on her way to 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Valkyries entered Thursday’s game riding a three-game losing streak after playing the WNBA’s last two unbeaten teams. They lost a pair of road games in New York to the Liberty last week, then collapsed in the third quarter at home against Minnesota on Sunday.
The loss to the Lynx was their first Commissioner’s Cup game. The round-robin format will see Golden State play one game each against their four remaining Western Conference opponents, and the West team with the highest win percentage will advance to the final.
The Valkyries’ next game is Saturday at 12 p.m. against the star-studded Las Vegas Aces, Nakase’s former team. The Commissioner’s Cup matchup will air nationally on ABC.
“We always appreciate playing at home,” Burton said. “The fans are incredible. We always hope to get a win for them, especially at home.”