Valkyries instant analysis: Golden State fades in second half against Clark, Fever

The Fever wanted to play fast, and the Valkyries preferred a methodical pace on Friday night in Indiana.

Playing the second leg of a back-to-back, the Valkyries were the ones who actually started fast, but faded in the second half and fell to Indiana 90-82, a day after routing the Liberty in New York the night before.

Tiffany Hayes scored 19 points off the bench, fellow reserve Kaitlin Chen had a career-high 18 and star guard Veronica Burton added 17 for Golden State. Superstar guard Caitlin Clark, active after missing the previous game with a back injury, scored a game-high 22 points and added nine assists for the Fever.

“Our defense is our bread and butter, and 90 points is just too much for any team to score against us,” Hayes said. “I just think we’ve gotta go back to the drawing board, fix the little things.”

The Valkyries, paced by Hayes' determined drives to the rim, eventually found their footing after falling behind 7-0 and trailed just 19-17 after one quarter.

Golden State, taking advantage of some soft off-the-dribble defense by the Fever, led by as much as eight points in the second quarter. The Valkyries took a 44-37 lead into halftime, with Clark swiping at Janelle Salaun after the buzzer when Salaun grabbed a rebound.

The Fever came alive while the Valkyries made just five shots in the third. Indiana led 66-61 with 10 minutes left in the game, and then withstood a Valkyries rally down the stretch.

“They were more physical than us in the second half, and kind of dictated more of our flow,” coach Natalie Nakase said.

The Valkyries (3-2) will host the Sun on Monday.

Attacking inside

The Valkyries play at the slowest pace in the WNBA, but they zoomed right to the rim against a pillow soft Fever defense that entered the game allowing a league-worst 25.6 2-point field goals per game.

Hayes, Chen and Gabby Williams made Clark and Co. work off the bounce, and it was apparent early on that the home team was not up to the task. Even the lightest screen was enough to give the Valkyries a wide open lane to the rim.

Burton, Chen and Hayes combined to shoot 12 of 15 in the first half, the majority of those looks coming right at the rim. The Fever began switching and playing with more physicality at the point of attack in the second half, but Golden State still finished with 30 points in the paint and 23 made free throws.

Containing Clark

Clark is one of the most gifted offensive talents in the league, capable of making 3-pointers from the logo and throwing pinpoint passes to shooters in the corner.

Last season, Nakase showed she knew how to guard Clark, forcing her right and sitting on her patented stepback going left. Of course, completely stopping a scorer who averages 24 points per game is impossible.

While Clark had 22 points and nine assists, the Valkyries still made her work for her buckets, and as mentioned before, relentlessly attacked Clark on defense in the first half. But once Clark started rolling in the third, making a couple of deep triples, the Valkyries had no answer for the third-year guard in the pick-and-roll game.

“In transition, she flows really well, and then (they set) a ton of ball screens,” Naksase said.

Billings faces former team

Monique Billings played her first game against the Valkyries since departing the Bay Area in free agency. The veteran center scored two points and grabbed three rebounds in her 11 minutes of action.

She has started all five games for the Fever this season, and entered Friday averaging 8.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

It is a similar level of production to what she gave the Valkyries last season, although coach Nakase said Billings' biggest impact came off the floor.

"Mo gave us that leadership, that locker room leadership that no one really got to see. She loved her teammates deeply, and at the same time, she was always kind of like their protector," Nakase said pregame. "To call myself out, anytime I really went at the team, Mo was the first to settle me (down) … Mo was very good in the locker room."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 7:15 PM.