SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Indiana Fever 90-88 on Thursday night at Chase Center. Veronica Burton led Golden State with 25 points, six rebounds, and a career-best five blocked shots in the victory.
Gabby Williams added 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while Janelle Salaun contributed 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench. The Valkyries recorded 11 blocked shots as a team, including four from Kiah Stokes and five from Burton.
Indiana erased an early deficit behind a late push from Caitlin Clark, who made a 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining to bring the Fever within one point, 81-80. Aliyah Boston followed with a jumper to give Indiana the lead. However, Clark committed turnovers with 1:32 and 1:06 left while her team trailed by three points, and she missed a 3-point attempt with 40 seconds remaining.
Sophie Cunningham scored an uncontested layup with 24.8 seconds left to extend Golden State’s advantage. Williams then missed the first of two free throws, but the Valkyries held on as Boston’s turnaround jumper missed at the final buzzer.
Clark finished with 16 points, six assists, and four rebounds while shooting 3 for 12 from the field. The Fever struggled from beyond the arc, missing their first eight 3-point attempts and finishing the first half 3 of 12 from distance. The loss snapped Indiana’s three-game winning streak.
Clark had been listed as probable for the game due to a back issue and entered Thursday averaging 23.8 points per game. Fans at Chase Center booed her each time she touched the ball. Clark had said before the rematch that she had moved on from an incident the previous Friday in Indiana, where she signaled toward Golden State guard Tiffany Hayes during a 90-82 Fever win. A testy matchup between the two teams occurred in that prior game.
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