Valkyries Erase 13-Point Deficit, Beat Tempo 92-81 for Third Win in Three Meetings

Janelle Salaün scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Toronto Tempo 92-81 on Tuesday night at Chase Center for their third win in three meetings with Toronto this season.

Kayla Thornton finished with a season-high 20 points, and five Golden State players reached double figures. Veronica Burton had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists without a turnover, the sixth game of her career with at least 10 points, 5 assists, and no turnovers.

Toronto made 13 of its first 22 shots, including 8-of-14 from 3-point range, and led 38-25 with 6:22 left in the second quarter. Golden State closed the half on a 16-4 run and went to the break down 42-41. The run reached 23-4 early in the third quarter, when Thornton opened with a 3-pointer and Gabby Williams scored on a layup and a driving bank shot for a 48-42 lead.

Thornton hit 3-pointers 34 seconds apart in the first quarter. She scored 12 points in the third quarter on 4-of-5 shooting, played 28 minutes, and did not commit a turnover.

With 4:27 left in the third quarter, Aneesah Morrow was called for a Flagrant 1 for contact with Thornton's neck. Thornton made both free throws for a 62-57 lead. Thornton said afterward that she was fine.

Thornton shot 6-of-10 from the field, 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Thornton said Golden State was not clicking on defense and the players had to come together and work out what they needed to do.

"Just shooting the ball, doing what the defense gives me, and just staying consistent," Thornton said. "I put the work in, so my teammates trust me and I trust them."

In the fourth quarter Toronto shot 6-of-17 and scored 13 points. Salaün's 3-pointer with 7:35 left put Golden State ahead 81-68, its largest lead of the night. Golden State outscored Toronto 51-39 in the second half.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said the coaching staff adjusted to Marina Mabrey and Morrow being in Toronto's lineup and that the scout belonged to Sidney Parsons.

"Yeah, just getting into them again," Nakase said. "They respond really well with goal setting. I thought that Landon [Tatum] did a great job in some of these timeouts when I just lost my voice. … Everyone just stepped up a level. I thought we ball pressured a lot better, and then you saw just Tiff Hayes just playing football out there. Interception, interception, and that led us to transition."

Tatum is a Valkyries assistant coach.

Salaün made 4-of-6 from 3-point range in 20 minutes off the bench. Toronto's bench scored 13 points. Tuesday was her fourth straight game in double figures and her second straight with at least 20 points, and she scored a career-high 26 points in the first meeting with Toronto on July 8.

Salaün said the players who closed the fourth quarter finished the job.

"We have a really good group," Salaün said in French. "As you can see, we actually have fun, and I think that's what makes the difference. … And beyond that, we're all competitors."

Golden State beat Toronto by 17 on Sunday and by 11 on Tuesday.

"Yeah, I think it's hard to beat a team like that back to back," Thornton explained. "We had to try to treat this like a playoff game. … Once you play a team over and over, you kind of know what they want to do. So it's all about just doing the details."

Nakase said Thornton has stayed ready all season and that the ball sometimes flows to Cecilia Zandalasini or Williams instead.

"I thought KT, her approach today was at a high level, and then once she sees that first one go in, it is trouble," Nakase explained. "But I actually, I really loved her defense. I thought she came in with a sense of physicality that no one was going to get in there unless they were going to go through her."

Williams passed 2,000 career points on a driving layup with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter. She finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, 6 of them in the first half, and reached double figures for the 19th time this season.

Nakase said Golden State's runs come out of deflections and steals, with Williams finishing coast to coast.

"She had six rebounds in the first half," Nakase said. "When teams go small versus us, Gabby kind of really extends herself with her hustle. … She pressured the ball. She created havoc. She deflected a lot of passes. But more importantly, keeping that team to 14 in the fourth — that's tough."

Kiah Stokes had 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Stokes entered Tuesday second in the WNBA in blocks per game at 1.9. Tiffany Hayes scored 12 points with 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a season-high 4 steals off the bench. Zandalasini added 6 points on 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. Burton went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Golden State outrebounded Toronto 38-27 and pulled 15 offensive rebounds, which turned into 22 second-chance points to Toronto's 6. Golden State scored 38 points in the paint. Toronto committed 16 turnovers that Golden State turned into 21 points. Tuesday was the second straight game Golden State reached 90 points and the third time this season it has done that in consecutive games.

Nyara Sabally scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 6 rebounds. Mabrey returned after sitting out Sunday's game with a neck injury and scored 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 35 minutes. Julie Allemand had 8 assists and 7 points without a turnover. Laura Juškaitė scored 11 points. Brittney Sykes did not play with a left foot injury, and Temi Fagbenle and Kia Nurse did not play by coach's decision.

Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said Toronto's defense was one of its better games and that the Tempo did not finish plays.

"Look at the stats: turnovers and offensive rebounds," Brondello said. "Some possessions, we had good possessions and didn't finish the play with the block out. … They lifted their intensity, and I thought that kind of disrupted us a little bit. So we've got to be a little bit tougher."

Morrow made her Toronto debut after arriving from the Connecticut Sun on Friday. She entered with 4:57 left in the first quarter and hit a 3-pointer on her first shot about a minute later. Morrow finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds in 16 minutes.

Brondello said Allemand's pace and passing were an advantage for Toronto and that she wants Allemand playing that way.

"I thought she came in, had her first shot, made a three," Brondello explained. "She hasn't been with us, so there's a few things that she probably wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to be doing. But she's going to be a presence there, and I think the more comfortable she gets, it's going to get better and better."

María Conde scored 11 points in the first half on 4-of-8 shooting and finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Conde made 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Toronto shot 8-of-17 from 3-point range in the first half and 4-of-12 in the second.

Conde said Toronto gets good things every time it moves the ball.

"They just upped their intensity, kind of started denying, and just putting more pressure on the ball," Conde said. "Every time we move the ball, we get good things."

The loss was Toronto's seventh straight and its 11th in 12 games. Toronto fell to 10-20. Golden State moved to 21-9 and completed the season series sweep after an 83-75 win in Toronto on July 8 and a 96-79 win Sunday at Chase Center. The announced attendance was 18,064, a sellout.

Toronto plays at the Portland Fire on Thursday. Golden State plays at the Dallas Wings on Friday.