Minnesota bridged the final two quarters of the game with a huge 24-5 run, disappointing a packed Chase Center crowd as they extended their undefeated streak to seven.
Game Story
Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images
On Sunday night, the Minnesota Lynx paid their first visit to the brand new Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. The expansion team surprised the league by starting the season with a 2-1 record, but got a quick reality check with two straight losses to the defending champion New York Liberty, who are just one of two undefeated teams in the league.
The schedule was not going to do them any favors.
The other lossless team in the W was none other than the Lynx. They had just come off a dramatic victory without their leading MVP candidate, Napheesa Collier, over the Mercury. Collier was plenty rested, putting on a show for the new San Francisco fan base in the debut of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. She drilled her very first field goal attempt, a catch-and-shoot triple. A sign of things to come.
Both teams were hitting early and often, combining to go 8 of 18 from the perimeter. Minnesota’s old friend, Cecilia Zandalasini, drilled a trey to help Golden State get its largest lead of the game (five) in the first period. That advantage would be short-lived, as the Lynx responded right back. Bridget Carleton chipped in seven early points to re-take the game with an eight-point Minnesota lead.
Then we got the Kate Martin explosion.
The fan favorite (See: Caitlin Clark) unloaded 14 points in the second quarter. This included nine points in only one minute of game action, igniting a raucous crowd. Martin had a mind-boggling six-point possession midway through the second quarter, pushing her team back up by five.
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The Kate Martin Show!
— Carver North (@carvernorth.bsky.social) 2025-06-02T01:33:29.416Z
Minnesota would have no more of this, though. The lead see-sawed back in the visitor’s favor, as they answered the call with yet another 8-0 run with four different players, all scoring. Kayla McBride poured in 10 of her 16 points in that quarter alone. Courtney Williams also joined the party, scoring seven of her 20 points in the first few minutes of the third period.
If you’ve watched any Minnesota Lynx games last season, then you are familiar with what they were about to do in the final 15 minutes of the game. Their defense put on an absolute clinic, holding the Valkyries to just eight points in the third quarter. Golden State went 0 for 9 from the perimeter, but many of those were of the desperation heave variety.
Photo by Andrea Cardani/NBAE via Getty Images
Before you could blink, a 24-5 Lynx run had ripped open a 22-point lead with just five minutes and change left.
It was all academic at that point. Credit can be given to the upstart Valkries, as they refused to give up. They scratched and clawed the game back to respectability, dwindling the Lynx’s lead to just 11 with 1:56 left, but neither team scored again.
This now puts the Lynx at 7-0 on the season, and 1-0 in Commissioner’s Cup play. Though that’s a great place to be, there’s still plenty of meat on the bone for them to improve. They’re bottom five in opponent offensive rebounding percentage, and it was evident today again. This might fly against inexperienced and less talented teams like the Valkyrie, Sun, or Wings, but they will need to resolve this as the schedule toughens up.
Quick Hits
- In Napheesa Collier’s return, she put up a pedestrian stat line of 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block on 44% shooting (by her standards). Ho-hum. Side note: If you think NBA officiating is bad, check out this “offensive foul” that Phee was called for.
They called this an offensive foul on Napheesa Collier, fouling Kayla Thornton
- Alanna Smith was limited to just 26 scoreless minutes, though she seems to still be dealing with a nagging thigh injury. Lan did have four fouls, but she mostly carried just three personals on her for most of the game.
- Cheryl Reeve continues to lean heavily on her starters, as the bench scored just 14 points tonight. Natisha Hiedeman scored 5 of her 8 points in the final quarter, but Karlie Samuelson and others will certainly need to step up moving forward. Alissa Pili had a rough stretch in the first half that fed the Valkyrie run. Diamond Miller was a DNP-CD.
- Kate Martin had that wild second quarter, but never scored again. She went 0 for 3 the rest of the game. Her 14 points were still a season-high.
- It was a rough night for veteran last season’s Sixth Player of the Year, Tiffany Hayes. After suffering a brutal nose injury 11 days ago, she returned to the starting lineup today. Unfortunately, she picked up four fouls in just 16 minutes of play, and her night ended in gruesome fashion, crashing into a fan on a loose-ball situation. She had to leave the game immediately with a towel over her head. Prayers up.
Natisha Hiedeman caught Tiffany Hayes in the face going for the inbounds, Hayes was already wearing a mask and left immediately holding her nose
Highlights
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Up Next
Minnesota returns home from their quick two-game road trip to host the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, June 3rd at 7:00 PM CT. It will be their second of six Commissioner’s Cup games upcoming. In their previous game on Friday against Phoenix, they had a frenzied finish, but both teams were without their best players. Will things look different for round two?