Valkyries now 9-9 after losing road game to Atlanta

The Golden State Valkyries call their home floor Ballhalla a place of glory and triumph For all they ve accomplished in their expansion season Valkyries have yet to figure out how to take Ballhalla on the road The Atlanta Dream used a - run in the fourth quarter to take command en journey to a - win Monday night over Golden State at Gateway Center The Valkyries fall to - and are - on the road as opposed to - at Chase Center Both road wins came in Los Angeles against the Sparks meaning they have yet to win a WNBA championship out of the state of California Golden State was coming of a loss in Minnesota in a match in which they were also competitive only to let things get away late Atlanta which got points from All-Star Allisha Gray improved to - Turnovers helped doom the Valkyries who had in all in a battle where they led by as much as points in the first half Forward Monique Billings led Golden State with points with Kayla Thornton scoring and Tiffany Hayes For Atlanta Naz Hillman had points and Brionna Jones Golden State built its early lead with the help of -pointers hitting its first five in a row For the rest of the night they were -for- on -point attempts The Valkyries took a - lead on a follow shot by Billings off a missed -point attempt from Kate Martin as time was running out in the third quarter After leading the first quarter by points the Valkyries began to misfire from -point range and the Dream climbed back into the competition Atlanta even led by as much as - after a step-back -pointer by Gray with left in the half Golden State however closed with an - run that included -pointers by Thornton and Hayes and led - at halftime The Valkyries hit of first-half shots percent to percent for the Dream -for- but Atlanta scored points off Golden State turnovers Billings inserted into the starting lineup led the Valkyries with points in minutes in the opening half Gray had and Brittney Griner for Atlanta The Valkyries led - after the first quarter as Burton hit all three of her long-distance attempts for nine points Billings had eight in the first quarter and made her only -pointer In contrast to its previous loss to Minnesota where Golden State gave up points in the first quarter the Dream were limited to -for- percent shooting in the opening quarter Atlant s Gray had nine points in the quarter Related Articles Thornton selected as Golden State Valkyries first All-Star Valkyries begin road swing with loss to Minnesota It was heartbreaking Why Valkyries moved on from Julie Vanloo after EuroBasket stint Valkyries superfan Podziemski takes Warriors rookies to WNBA match Atmosphere was unbelievable Golden State Valkyries waive Julie Vanloo others as roster shuffle continues Kudos for K T Nakase was happy for Thornton a -year veteran in becoming the first player in franchise history to be named as a WNBA All-Star selection I in fact got chills when I identified out Nakase described reporters in her pregame press briefing Especially with K T we weren t aiming for that It wasn t a goal It was let s be authentically you and what I loved about K T is she kept hitting almost event winners and she stated I m just wanting to show up and be myself It was the same answer over and over again she s consistently guarding the top competitor closing games It s huge It was Thornton s first All-Star selection