Minnesota Lynx Defeat The Valkyries (82-71) To Remain Undefeated At Home

The Minnesota Lynx are coming off a great win against the Washington Mystics the other night. They would come into tonight’s game against the Golden State Valkyries looking for that same result.

Golden State came to play tonight as they were able to hustle and make the best of their paint touches. It was Kayla Thornton and Tiffany Hayes who led the charge for Golden State as they combined for 36 of their 71 points.

Tiffany Hayes was locked in from the start and didn’t look back as she was able to make some tough shots over Lynx defenders. Hayes even had a stretch where she lost her shoe and hit a 3 pointer and forced a turnover on the defensive end. Overall her shot making ability and energy defensively was in full display. Hayes was 8/11 from the field for 23 points and the Valkyries needed every point to even be close.

Kayla Thornton had 13 points with 10 rebounds tonight against Minnesota. She always plays tough against the Lynx but the Valkyries just couldn’t get it done when it mattered the most. Napheesa Collier was a huge reason why Golden State didn’t get the win as well.

The Minnesota Lynx have been clicking on all cylinders as a unit and tonight it showed as 8 players had 5 points or more. Napheesa Collier struggled in the 1st quarter in back to back games but the MVP front runner continues to finish games with 20+ points. Napheesa was 8/11 from the field to finish with 22 points and 6 rebounds on the night. She was battling for position against Thornton/Billings all night. One thing about Phee that the Valkyries learned is that she’s going to keep coming at you and she did just that.

Courtney Williams didn’t have her big assist night but she was able to make some timely buckets to help Minnesota when it counted the most. The mid-range master has been lighting it up from the 3 point line as of late as she was 3/8 from downtown and finished with 15 points. Courtney affects the game in many ways with rebounding and deflections and the Lynx needed her energy as well.

The Lynx will need all that energy and more as they come back tomorrow to play the Chicago Sky who come into town Top 5 in rebounding. It should be an aggressive game in the paint and Minnesota could be down Alanna Smith who injured her knee tonight in the 1st half against Golden State.