Injuries continue to pile up for Valkyries in painful loss to Mercury

Healthy players and wins are becoming harder and harder to come by for the Valkyries as the season enters its final phase Golden State dropped its third consecutive challenge when the visiting squad fell to Phoenix - on Friday night Veteran guard Tiffany Hayes who made her return after resting against Phoenix in the Bay Area on Tuesday left the competition with an injury with to go in the third quarter Hayes collided with Mercury guard Kahleah Copper after she closed out on a pass intended for Copper Hayes crumped to the ground and later went back to the locker room Rookie guard Carla Leite also injured her ankle in the same quarter and although she attempted to play through it eventually was pulled with in the fourth quarter Coach Natalie Nakase mentioned both were in good spirits after the event She was grinning and I ll have to wait to see from our physiological staff what the situation is Nakase stated of Hayes adding about Leite She something was sore with her foot but she reported she s good With their veteran leader knocked out the Valkyries tumbled back to with an - record and into the last playoff spot as the No seed after losing the rematch to the Mercury who beat Golden State in the Bay Area on Tuesday The Valkyries kept it close for a while though Golden State trailed - at halftime and a burst in the third cut the deficit to - with a little over four minutes remaining in the quarter One of the sparse bright spots for the Valkyries was rookie wing Janelle Salaun who was demanded to take on more of a scoring role with Cecilia Zandalasini staying at home while nursing a calf injury Salaun scored on a variety of drives contested finishes and certain soft mid-range jumpers Coming off a -point -assist masterclass on Tuesday Veronica Burton put up a solid points and eight assists for the Valkyries Phoenix s Alyssa Thomas stuffed the stat sheet with an -point -rebound -assist effort her sixth triple-double of the season We need to be better on defense Salaun revealed Sometimes we make shots sometimes we do not But I think we need to be more connected on defense Golden State will play at Dallas on Sunday Makoa Akani gets the last laugh After being the topic of much conversation following her soccer-esque foul on Veronica Burton the rookie out of France displayed that she was more than just a defender against Golden State She made of shots and scored points in the second quarter spacing the floor for her more-decorated teammates in Thomas and Co One of her fastbreak layups with two minutes remaining on the third quarter clock pushed the Phoenix lead to - and forced Nakase to call timeout As a company the Mercury peppered the Valkyries from the perimeter and made of from -point land compared to just of for Golden State Long-range ineptitude fastbreak success The Valkyries shot of from the -point line in the first half forcing up shots due to their inability to break down the compact Suns defense Instead of continuing to throw up bricks from long range Nakase s Valkyries appeared to place an emphasis on pushing the pace Though the squad only had fastbreak points according to the official box figure Golden State s willingness to run and play in semi-transition allowed the visitors to create open looks Salaun broke free for a couple of fastbreak layups as did Hayes in the second quarter after a Mercury turnover Rupert returns Both Hayes rest and Rupert concussion were back in the starting lineup after missing Tuesday s tournament at Chase Center Though shutting down Thomas is impossible after all Thomas put up a triple double Rupert still had her moments against the MVP candidate The center pulled off a nice block on a Thomas fastbreak midway through the second quarter and a sparse minutes later forced a miss with a vertical contest She ended the event with nine points five rebounds and two blocks