Valkyries instant analysis: Veronica Burton outduels Caitlin Clark as Golden State beats Fever at home
SAN FRANCISCO - In the span of a week, the Golden State Valkyries and Indiana Fever have seemingly become rivals.
After a chippy, physical game last week in which Indiana won on its home floor, the Caitlin Clark-led Fever came to the Bay Area for round 2.
This time, the Valkyries got their revenge.
Golden State held off Indiana in the waning minutes, led by a flurry of clutch buckets from Janelle Salaün and Veronica Burton to earn a 90-88 win. The Valkyries are now 5-2 this season.
Burton led Golden State with 25 points, six rebounds and five blocks. Salaün and Gabby Williams each had 19 points.
Clark had 16 points, six assists and five turnovers. She shot 3-for-12 from the field and 2-for-6 3-point line.
“Tonight, you could see our team really stuck together through the ebbs and flows of the game,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “We stayed composed. I thought everyone did their role tonight and we gave everyone gave max effort, from the bench to the starters to our players who weren’t even dressed out. … You can see that love and care just every second, and we needed it every second of this game.”
The Valkyries found success going at Clark early.
Each time the former Iowa standout was on the floor in the first half, the Valkyries attempted to force favorable switches on Clark and constantly took her to the rim. Clark finished the first two quarters with three fouls, including a bad shooting foul with 3.1 seconds left in the half.
Golden State led by as much as 11 in the second quarter, but Indiana finished the half strong as both teams went into halftime tied at 44.
Much like last game, Indiana made its run in the third quarter. Indiana used a quick 6-0 run to take a 66-60 advantage late in the period. But a few timely buckets from Salaün got the Valkyries back to within striking distance early in the fourth quarter.
In the final minutes, Burton and Salaün took turns hitting clutch basket after clutch basket to seal a gritty win at home.
Burton has historic night
Burton joined rare air on Thursday as she became the first player to have at least 25 points, five rebounds and five blocks in a game since Diana Taurasi did it in 2008.
Burton took on the assignment of guarding Clark early, then switched onto All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell in the second half. She held Mitchell to just seven points in the final two quarters on 2-of-6 shooting.
“I was just trying to do whatever I can to win, you know, defensively I think I lacked in the last game. So I think just being intentional about that,” Burton said.
Her 25 points were a season-high and the five blocks she had was the most she had in her career.
"I think V's leadership really took a big leap today,” Nakase said. “I felt she really controlled the tempo, number one, she started off just attacking, and attacking was part of the game plan.There are times where we talked about attacking, and there were times about staying composed, and she was composed and fearless every moment. In terms of the defensive end, she was just like, let me make sure we’re organized, we got the matchup we wanted, and I thought she did an amazing job. … I’m very proud of her."
Salaün bounces back
After a rough stretch of games for the French forward, Salaün had a nice bounce-back game off the bench.
Salaün finished with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting in 24 minutes. Salaün opened the first two games of the season averaging 20.5 points per game on efficient shooting splits, but has failed to score more than 12 points ever since.
In the final two minutes, Salaün grabbed two crucial rebounds, hit two free throws, and knocked down a clutch jumper that gave Golden State a 87-84 lead.
Salaün also had seven rebounds and three assists.
Jocytė provides spark
During her pregame press conference, Nakase seemed to hint that rookie Justė Jocytė might not get into Thursday's game.
"To be honest, she still doesn’t know all of our stuff," Nakase said. "I would say conditioning levels, she’s not there yet.I gave Gabby (Williams) a week and she’s been with us for three days, so I just again want to keep giving her that space."
But with the Valkyries needing an offensive spark early in the third quarter, the 20-year-old guard was told to get on the stationary bike to warm up. Then, Nakase told her to check in.
The crowd, feeling the need for an offensive punch, went nuts.
Jocytė finished with three points in 16 minutes, most notably calling for an isolation against Clark and hitting a 3-pointer in her face.
Jocytė essentially closed Thursday's game, checking in at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter and not coming out until 24.8 seconds remained in the game.
Rivalry?
After a physical and gritty two games against the Fever in the span of six days, Nakase was asked if she believed the Fever are the Valkyries’ rivals.
Nakase had a very Nakase answer.
“Everyone’s a rival in my eyes,” Nakase said. ” We want all 14 rival stuff, that would be great because that just helps us build and prepare for the long season.”
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 9:42 PM.