Lynx improve to 7-0 with strong second half against expansion Valkyries

Kent Youngblood, Star Tribune on Jun 1, 2025

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The Lynx tipped off their game with the expansion Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco on Sunday at about 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

The Minnesota defense got to the game about an hour late.

But it was enough.

Down a point at halftime after allowing Golden State to score 52 points, the Lynx took over in the second half in an 86-75 victory that kept the Lynx (7-0) perfect on the season and moved them to 1-0 in Commissioners Cup competition.

It is Minnesota’s best start to a season since the 2017 team started the season 9-0.

It was an absolutely night-and-day performance.

Golden State scored 29 points in the second quarter and 52 points in the first half. But the Valkyries (2-4) scored just nine points in the first 13-plus minutes of the second half, and by that time the Lynx were in control of the game. They led by as many as 22.

Four of five Lynx starters scored in double figures. Napheesa Collier, back after missing a game with a sore knee, had a 24-point, 11-rebound double-double. Courtney Williams scored 20. Kayla McBride scored 16 and Bridget Carleton scored 12.

The game was tied at 56 with 7:44 left in the third quarter. Over the next 12 minutes the Lynx went on a 27-5 run to go up 22 points with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the game.

Veronica Burton scored 21 for Golden State. Kate Martin scored 14 off the bench.

The Lynx got 10 points from Collier, seven from Williams, had four starters score and made 11 of 19 shots in the first quarter.

But they led by just four when it ended.

Making four 3-pointers of their own and getting seven points from Thornton, the Valkyries led 21-16 before the Lynx finished the quarter on an 11-2 run that included five points from Collier.

That run kept going to start the second. When Carleton hit two free throws with 8:29 left in the half the Lynx, on a 16-3 run, had an eight-point lead.

But that just set the stage for some wild back and forth.

First, Martin happened. She led an 18-5 run over the next 4 minutes that put Golden State ahead 42-37.

That was followed by a 7-2 Lynx run capped by McBride’s layup for a three-point Lynx lead.

But Minnesota just couldn’t slow the Valkyries, who ended the half on a 8-4 run to take a 52-51 halftime lead.

Golden State scored 29 points in the second quarter and 52 in the half, both highs by a Lynx opponent this season, thanks in large part to their 18 fast-break points.

In the third quarter, the defense finally arrived. After scoring 52 first-half points, Golden State scored just eight in the third, going 3 for 15 overall and missing all nine 3-point attempts. The Lynx ended the quarter on a 12-4 run to go up eight entering the fourth.