Veronica Burton scored 21 points on Saturday afternoon to help lift the visiting Golden State Valkyries to an 88-83 victory over the reeling Atlanta Dream in College Park, Ga.
Gabby Williams added 19 points and Janelle Salaun had 14 for Golden State (14-7), which won its fourth straight game and its third over Atlanta in the last 10 days.
Allisha Gray’s 22 points led Atlanta (12-9), while Rhyne Howard scored 19 and Angel Reese posted a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double. Reserve Madina Okot chipped in 11 points for the Dream, who dropped their fifth consecutive game.
Gray scored half of her points from the free throw line, hitting 11 of 16, but only converted 5 of 17 shots from the field.
Facing a seven-point halftime deficit, Atlanta began the third quarter on a 7-0 run, evening the score at 42 apiece on Reese’s layup. After Williams’ 3-pointer put Golden State ahead by three, Howard’s triple and Jordin Canada’s layup gave the Dream their first lead of the second half at 47-45.
Williams made consecutive 3-pointers to put the visitors ahead 55-52, before Okot scored seven straight to return the lead to Atlanta. The Dream led 59-57 after three quarters.
With just over four minutes remaining, Burton’s layup gave the Valkyries a 74-72 advantage. Reese then scored five in a row to give Atlanta a three-point edge with 3:16 remaining.
But Williams’ three-point play was followed by a Burton layup and Kaila Charles added a triple to stamp the critical 8-0 Golden State run. The Valkyries led 82-77 with 64 seconds remaining.
After Howard’s three-point play sliced the deficit to two, Williams’ mid-range floater doubled the margin with 37.7 seconds left. Burton’s steal and ensuing free throws gave the Valkyries a six-point lead with 20.2 seconds remaining.
But the Dream would not go down quietly. Howard’s fourth 3-pointer pulled the hosts to within three. After Charles’ turnover, Howard missed a potentially game-tying triple with 9.1 seconds left. Charles then drilled a pair of game-sealing free throws.
Golden State jumped out to an early 12-2 lead on Cecilia Zandalasini’s three-point play. Atlanta answered with an 11-0 run to grab its first lead.
Okot’s layup beat the first-quarter buzzer to give the Dream a 22-19 edge entering the second.
The Valkyries outscored Atlanta 23-13 in the second quarter. Salaun finished the first half with a personal 6-0 spurt to help Golden State take a 42-35 halftime lead. Salaun’s 11 first-half points led all scorers, while Reese’s nine led the Dream.
Atlanta misfired on 40 of 66 field goal attempts (39.4%), 18 of 26 shots from 3-point range (30.8%) and 10 of 33 (69.7%) from the free throw line.
–Field Level Media
