The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Golden State Tops Connecticut and Moves to Seventh in Tight Playoff Hunt

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

It’s a long way to go over five weeks in a short amount of time in a tight 10-team race in the WNBA for seeds and eight spots until September 11th on the final day of the regular season when the playoff bracket is set but in the sole game Monday night to begin the first of those weeks Golden State (16-15) took advantage of a visit from last place Connecticut (5-26) to cruise 74-57 before an ongoing sellout of 18,064 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

It’s now just a two-game win streak for the expansion Valkyries who have sold out every seat in 15 games with seven left in the arena shared with the NBA Warriors since opening night for a WNBA record but, it kept alive Golden State’s goal to set another league mark to be the first franchise in the playoff field in their initial season of operation.

It’s quite a reversal for Monday’s opponents to see the Sun, a gold standard since acquired as the former Orlando Miracle in 2003, suffering their worst season, though the loss of five starters and 10 of 12 players besides coach Stephanie White leaving for a perceived opportunity in a second stint at Indiana, the home of reigning rookie of the year Caitlin Clark, is a major factor in Connecticut’s plunge from semifinal status held last October.

No cinch to gain a prized overall No. 1 pick in next April’s draft since a combined two-year record goes into the lottery equation for best odds for the same prize Indiana (18-14) won gaining Clark out of Iowa in 2024 and 12th place Dallas (8-24) owned last April to pluck Paige Bueckers from NCAA champion UConn, the Sun sit 21.5 games from first-place Minnesota (27-5) and 10.5 behind eighth place Seattle (16-16).

The Storm have plunged on a five-game losing streak, each setback by four or fewer points, from a better position to contend for home advantage in the best-of-three opening round to now a half-game behind seventh-place Golden State and on the cutoff line a half-game ahead of ninth-place Los Angeles (15-16) and 1.5 in front of Washington (14-17).

The Valkyries, two in front Washington, can help themselves further when they visit the Mystics on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. as part of a five-game slate, playing one of the six teams over a spread of 3.5 games to gain playoff status.

The tight overall race, though, beyond the 6.5 games lead Minnesota has over defending champion New York (20-11) and Atlanta (20-11), has a spread of four games between the two second-place teams and the Valkyries, who trail the fifth place duo of Las Vegas (18-14) and Indiana by 1.5 games and and just three behind fourth place Phoenix (19-12), which is in the last home-court advantage spot for the opening round.

Besides being at the bottom of the league, Connecticut, up for sale by the Mohegan Tribe, is the target of a two-group bidding war – one at a record $350 million that wants to bring the team to Boston where the last two seasons the Sun have sold out two separate games at the TD Garden, home of the NBA Celtics.

The other group, with an offer near the Boston bid, wants to keep the team in-state and move it from its current home at the Mohegan Sun casino-entertainment venue in Uncasville near New London, to Hartford, which is even closer to the UConn campus in Storrs.

The WNBA, when news of the Boston bid first leaked out just ahead of the other bid, stated the board of governors approves the sale and relocation destination.

Neither group was involved in the previous expansion contests that saw NBA ownerships land two teams for a return to previous venues in Cleveland (2028) and Detroit (2029) and a new one awarded the Philadelphia bid from Comcast and the NBA 76ers to begin in 2030.

Those bids went for  the existing record of $250 million.

At the announcement WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had warm words toward Houston, one of the runners-up, and which had the first four champions coming from the Comets (1997-2000).

The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire begin play next summer and the WNBA, which had an exhibition game several years ago in Toronto, which sold out ahead of the Tempo’s successful bid, has a second Canadian game, part of the Friday five-game ION package this week, between Seattle and Atlanta in Vancouver at Rogers Arena, the first for a regular season affair across the northern border.

Three in Double Figures Lead Golden State Over Connecticut

As for the newest team in existence, Tiffany Hayes and Cecilia Zandalasini each scored 17 points for the Valkyries, while Janelle Salaun collected 26 points.

The Sun got 13 points and 14 boards from rookie Aneesah Morrow out of LSU, while Olivia Nelson-Ododa had 12 points.

“I thought (Connecticut) played with a lot of heart,” said Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase. “Every time we punched them, they punched us right back. Morrow with 14 rebounds? How tall is she? That’s a perfect example, height does not matter. She’s aggressive, she had 13 and 14, just someone we have to take care of boxing out. That many extra possessions, she’s pretty dangerous.

“I thought our push was a little better in the second half but we don’t know when the threes are going to fall, whether it’s first, second, third, or fourth quarter, we just continue say ‘let it fly, shoot with a lot of confidence,’ and that’s what they did,” Nakase said.

She made an endorsement to Northwestern grad Veronica Burton, who had 10 assists, as most improved player.

“I really believe she deserves most improved player in the ‘W’ because she can impact games without even scoring, so ten assists, especially versus a team like Connecticut, like their guards are vicious on the ball, they're scrappy, they pressure us on the ball, and so just credit ‘V’ being able to get to the paint, make the reads, keeping the game simple but then also with only one turnover I think that's pretty impactful,” Nakase said.

“I'm going to continue to push because she doesn't just impact the game, just with her defense, I mean she gets her players involved and that's what you need from a point guard is someone who constantly impacts the game regardless of their scoring.”

Connecticut, which hosts Chicago at 7 p.m. Wednesday, is 1-15 on the road. Besides the Washington-Golden State game, two other contests that night are Atlanta at Seattle at 10 p.m. on ESPN; and New York at Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN, the second of a road back-to-back that starts Tuesday at 10 p.m. in Los Angeles on NBA TV.

The Liberty stay on the road until Saturday’s third Finals reunion in Minnesota before one more back in New York next Tuesday.

The Lynx are 2-0 in the series, including Sunday’s win in Brooklyn.

Monday’s Golden State game was close until Zandalinski made a shot from distant to make it 45-33 midway through the third quarter.

In the final quarter Kate Martin made a 3-pointer from the corner at the close of a 14-2 run.

Iliana Rupert added 10 points for the winners.

Second-year pro Aaliyah Edwards, in her second game with the Sun following the trade with Washington, scored eight while Marina Mabrey was held to three points, 12 below her average, and Tina Charles was rested.

Clark Update

Tuesday’s other game is Indiana at Dallas at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+.

Caitlyn Clark, with three muscle injuries combined, a quad and initial groin causing her to miss games on the front end of the season, will be absent her 20th game overall after being injury-free at Iowa and her rookie season.

The aggravated groin injury, which occurred against Connecticut in Boston two games before the All-Star break, has had her sidelined since then, with no timeline for her return though Stephanie White after Monday’s practice said her star player, who has been the force causing the collegiate and pro games to soar in attendance and TV  ratings, was making progress but still not practice-ready.

Clark also missed the Commissioner’s Cup won at Minnesota but doesn’t count in the regular season, as well as the 3-point All-Star contest in her home arena as well as the game, itself, for which she was named a team captain receiving the most votes in the plan balloting for starters.

The Fever are 10-9 without Clark, who has appeared in the other 13, but are 6-2 recently, including Saturday’s win against visiting Chicago, two days after losing Sydney Colson (ACL) and Aari McDonald (foot) to season-ending injuries in the loss at Phoenix, stripping an available true point guard from the roster.

Indiana, under WNBA rules, was unable to acquire a player in a hardship deal until the two missed Saturday’s game but has since signed Odyssey Sims, who was with Los Angeles earlier in the season.

Lexie Hull, a former Stanford star, was inserted as a starter Saturday and contributed to the victory.

Though part of a jammed crowd in the middle of the standings contending for a home court, the Fever cannot afford a slide like Seattle, consider the playoff contenders close behind chasing them.