Valkyries come up clutch late, top Sparks in overtime win

It wasn t invariably pretty but the Valkyries escaped Los Angeles with a win Two days after routing the Las Vegas Aces at home Golden State notched another impressive preeminence by defeating the Los Angeles Sparks - in overtime The win kept the Valkyries hopes of competing for the Commissioner s Cup alive as they moved to - in cup games Janelle Sala n led Golden State with points and eight rebounds Temi F gb nl totaled points and rebounds Carla Leite came off the bench and scored points Starting point guard Veronica Burton limped off the floor in the fourth quarter but returned to close the challenge and finished with nine points and six assists We didn t play our greatest half I thought we played very soft defensively but we knew what level we had to get to Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase announced We could tell in both the third and fourth quarter they had each others back That s what we re trying to do We got to continue to rely on each other and hold each other accountable So that was really cool to see Sparks star Kelsey Plum totaled points on of shooting Dearica Hamby scored points grabbed nine rebounds and dished out six assists Los Angeles outscored the Valkyries - in transition and converted Golden State turnovers to points But Golden State out rebounded the Sparks - and scored points in the paint in a gritty win We worked on that revealed Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton who scored points and grabbed eight rebounds Once we get into the paint our threes start to open up The Valkyries went down four at halftime but unveiled their groove in the third quarter Sala n and F gb nl combined to figure of the Valkyries third-quarter points After three periods the two teams were tied at Golden State went cold in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter but two made free throws from Sala n gave the Valkyries a one-point lead with under a minute to go On the next possession Plum got F gb nl on a switch and swished a stepback -pointer from the right wing that gave the Sparks a - lead with seconds left When Golden State got the ball back Leite tied the match with a left-handed floater and got a stop on the Sparks final possession to force overtime In overtime the two teams played even until the final sparse minutes Sala n snagged a key offensive rebound off a F gb nl miss and put it back in the basket to put the Valkyries up three with just over two minutes left Thornton closed the door on the Sparks after she hit a left corner with seconds left to make the outcome seconds left Burton then knocked down two free throws to ice the battle My coach just kept telling me next shot Thornton who scored of her points in the fourth quarter and overtime explained I know I can make that shot and I just had to believe in myself and I wouldn t have made that without my teammates After leading by as much as nine in the second quarter Golden State couldn t keep the Sparks from scoring in transition Los Angeles totaled fast break points in the first half with Hamby getting behind the Valkyries defense numerous times or easy layups The Sparks closed the final seven minutes of the second quarter on a - run that gave the home crew a - lead at halftime Golden State continued its offensive momentum from the Aces meeting as they opened Tuesday s contest with an - run Temi F gb nl was dominant in the first quarter as she totaled eight points by making four of her first six shots to give the Valkyries a - lead after the first quarter The Valkyries rose to a tie for third in the Commissioner s Cup standings with the win Golden State has two more cup games against the Seattle Storm on Saturday and the Dallas Wings next Tuesday to close out the in-season competition