Valkyries Hand Out Franchise-Record 27 Assists in 94-76 Win Over Wings

Veronica Burton scored 22 points and handed out 7 assists without a turnover, Golden State set a franchise record with 27 assists, and the Valkyries beat the Dallas Wings 94-76 on Friday night at American Airlines Center.

Paige Bueckers opened the game with back-to-back 3-pointers on Dallas' first two possessions. The first quarter carried five ties and five lead changes before Tiffany Hayes closed it with six straight free throws, and Golden State led 26-21 after one.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said Burton set the tone with the way she spoke to teammates on the floor and that the group responded to it.

"Consistency for her. That's huge growth for her to — number one, she's ultimate pro how she approaches it," Nakase said. "Constantly asking for more film, constantly asking questions. And that's her hunger to, like, want to just be better every game.

"A lot of players just in general like to be complacent, but she wants more film. She wants more information," Nakasa explained. "And again, she says, 'I got you. You're the leader, but okay, I got him on the court.' So you just — you love players like that. Coachable, humble, and, like, they set a standard for themselves. Like, nah, I want to be better every single day. I love that. I love V, so."

Burton shot 8-of-13 and went 3-of-3 at the free-throw line. It was her second straight game with at least 11 points, 5 assists, and no turnovers, the first time she has done that in back-to-back games in her career.

Nakase said the goal was four quarters and that Golden State did not meet it.

"First two possessions, Paige just walks into threes," Nakase explained. "That was not the game plan. Her having 17 is not the game plan. So right from the jump, right? Coming out, right out from the locker room. Like, I mean, no. That's lack of discipline, attention to detail. Like, absolutely not. But, you know, they responded again. But I don't want to respond, I want to punch first, so."

Golden State led 44-36 at halftime and opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run, going up 54-38 on Kayla Thornton's cutting layup with 8:04 left. The Valkyries shot 10-of-17 in the quarter and 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Their lead reached 20.

Dallas got within 76-65 on two Li Yueru free throws with 8:45 remaining and no closer.

Burton said Golden State's defense has taken a leap this season and that leaning on it keeps the team from getting rattled.

"I mean, I think just my teammates finding me," Burton said. "I think our pace and our space, our spacing is really good, and it's one of our biggest strengths. So when we can get out and run and maintain our space, I think it gives me easy looks and my teammates find me."

Gabby Williams scored 19 on 8-of-18 shooting and also finished without a turnover. She had 12 points in the first half, 10 of them in the second quarter. Thornton posted 11 points and 10 rebounds, the 11th double-double of her career, and reached 2,500 career points.

Williams said she and Burton have similar leadership styles and that Burton can play well with anyone.

"She can do it all, you know," Williams said. "And just the types of plays that she makes are just huge momentum shifts, I feel like. You know, just feeding off that kind of energy. And yeah, it was a quiet double double, but some of the plays she made — some of the steals she had, some of the help defense she had, her running the floor — those plays are loud. You know, those plays are loud, and we feed off of that. So having a player like that on your team really helps a lot, especially with, like, the kind of enthusiasm that we wanna play with."

Nakase said Thornton's matchup was Jessica Shepard and that having Thornton back healthy has given Golden State a level of consistency.

Kiah Stokes had 7 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Kaila Charles scored 9 with a team-high 3 steals. Janelle Salaün added 9 and went 4-of-4 at the line. Hayes finished with 9 points on 7-of-8 free throws. Laeticia Amihere blocked 3 shots in 9:59. Kaitlyn Chen had 5 assists in 11:37.

Golden State made 12 3-pointers. It was the seventh time this season Dallas has allowed double-digit 3-pointers, and the Wings are 2-5 in those games. The Valkyries went 16-of-18 at the free-throw line and outscored Dallas 38-24 in the paint and 15-5 on the break.

Bueckers led Dallas with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and had 11 in the first quarter, one shy of her career high for a first quarter. Aziaha James scored 13, her most since a season-high 18 on June 22 against Seattle. Alanna Smith added 11 points and 6 rebounds, her third double-digit game in her last four. Shepard grabbed 11 rebounds.

James started after Azzi Fudd went through warm-ups and was ruled out with right knee soreness. It was the first time Dallas had used a lineup of Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, James, Shepard, and Smith this season.

James said the second half of the season is where wear and tear sets in and that Dallas is leaning on rest, film, and recovery.

"Uh, defense. You know, locking in on defense," James said. "I feel like defense really deteriorate this whole game. So once we dial in on that, I think we should be straight."

Dallas shot 33.9%, a season low, and went 7-of-25 from 3. The Wings were credited with 8 assists, their fewest in a game since 2019. Their 38 free-throw attempts were the most for Dallas since 2022, and they made 27.

Golden State outrebounded the Wings 25-16 in the first half. Dallas finished with a 39-38 edge on the glass and 15 offensive rebounds to Golden State's 9.

Wings coach José Fernández said Dallas had to decide at halftime whether it would get back into the game or get blown out, and that it went the direction he did not want.

"Oh, I mean, you look at today and you look at the Connecticut game, the minute output's pretty low, right?" Fernández said. "And if you do the averages of those four — of Jess, right, Jess, Fudd, Arike, and Paige — they were all in those previous four games. They averaged around 33, 34 minutes in those four. I mean, it's playoff basketball. It's the stretch now. Are we all disappointed today? Yeah. Staff, players, everybody."

Dallas lost 96-92 at Washington on Wednesday, one of two straight road games to open the week. Fernández said Friday was game 32 and that Dallas' loss at Atlanta was also not good.

"It was more our rotations and our effort," Fernández explained. "Again, we've had the identity: if the ball's not going in the basket, the one thing that you can always do is defend, right? Keep your guy in front of you, have backside rotations. But for one reason or another, they weren't there today. So we got a room of professionals. They understand what's at stake, and we have to bounce back."

Li Yueru scored 7 in 8:00 off the bench on 2-of-3 shooting and 3-of-3 from the line after not playing in the first half. Maddy Siegrist had 7 rebounds. Ogunbowale went 2-of-10 for 5 points.

The Valkyries improved to 22-9 and sit second in the WNBA Western Conference. They have won six of their last seven road games, and one more win matches their total from last season. Golden State also beat the Toronto Tempo 92-81 this week. Dallas fell to 19-13.

Friday was Dallas' second game at American Airlines Center this season and its first since the team announced that the building, home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, will be the Wings' home for the 2027 season. Attendance was announced at 16,444.

Dallas visits Minnesota on Sunday. Golden State plays at Los Angeles on Sunday. The teams meet once more this season, on Aug. 17 at Chase Center.