Kayla Thornton, Valkyries unleash barrage of 3s to coast past Portland
On the first possession of Tuesday night's game, Veronica Burton drove into the lane and whipped a pass to Golden State Valkyries teammate Kayla Thornton in the opposite corner. She promptly buried a 3-point shot.
Call that an omen of things to come.
Even for the WNBA's most productive long-range shooting team, even in the House that Steph Curry Built, this counted as an electric display. The Valkyries made 12 shots beyond the arc in the first half, fueling a 95-77 victory over Portland before another capacity crowd at Chase Center.
Golden State finished with a franchise-record 18 triples, led by Thornton's five. She scored 19 points and Janelle Salaun added 18 as the Valkyries bounced back from Sunday's emphatic loss to Las Vegas.
The win offered a tidy snapshot of the identity head coach Natalie Nakase built from the moment last year's expansion team stepped onto the court. The Valkyries are all about rugged defense and fearlessly letting fly from deep - they lead the league in 3-point shooting and entered Tuesday night's game with the third-best defensive rating.
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Those elements absolutely are connected.
"We've just got to make sure we stay locked in and committed to our defense," Nakase said. "The 3s are obviously nice when they go in … but it's our defense. We have to maintain our defense to create transition 3s, and then our effort to rebound on both ends to generate more shots."
Valkyries 95, Fire 77
FG
FT
Reb
PORTLAND
Min
M-A
M-A
O-T
A
PF
PTS
Engstler
28:50
4-12
2-4
4-8
1
3
12
Puoch
12:59
0-2
0-0
1-2
0
1
0
Gustafson
24:05
6-12
1-1
1-8
2
3
13
Carleton
29:46
4-6
1-1
1-3
1
4
11
Leite
24:26
2-6
6-6
0-1
7
2
10
Barker
23:02
3-5
0-0
0-3
3
1
8
Samuelson
11:55
1-4
0-0
0-0
1
2
2
Oblak
11:47
5-6
0-0
1-1
2
0
11
Geiselsoder
10:52
1-4
0-0
0-0
0
1
3
Buhner
9:41
0-1
0-0
0-0
1
0
0
S.Williams
8:51
2-2
2-4
0-1
0
1
7
Winterburn
3:47
0-1
0-0
0-1
1
0
0
Totals
200:00
28-61
12-16
8-28
19
18
77
Percentages: FG .459, FT .750.
3-Point Goals: 9-24, .375 (Engstler 2-3, Barker 2-4, Carleton 2-4, S.Williams 1-1, Geiselsoder 1-2, Oblak 1-2, Buhner 0-1, Gustafson 0-1, Winterburn 0-1, Puoch 0-2, Samuelson 0-3).
Team Rebounds: 13. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 2 (Engstler 2).
Turnovers: 15 (Leite 4, Oblak 3, Barker 2, Gustafson 2, Buhner, Geiselsoder, Puoch, Samuelson).
Steals: 3 (Carleton, Engstler, Oblak).
Technical Fouls: None.
FG
FT
Reb
GOLDEN STATE
Min
M-A
M-A
O-T
A
PF
PTS
Thornton
26:28
6-13
2-2
4-8
0
2
19
G.Williams
26:34
4-13
0-0
0-2
2
1
8
Stokes
20:06
2-3
0-0
2-5
1
2
6
Burton
22:47
3-5
2-4
1-3
9
2
10
Zandalasini
22:44
2-7
4-5
0-1
3
2
9
Salaun
22:44
6-10
3-3
1-4
1
2
18
Chen
17:13
3-4
1-2
0-0
2
1
9
Jocyte
13:07
3-8
0-0
0-2
1
0
8
Charles
12:50
3-6
0-0
1-3
1
2
7
Hayes
12:49
0-0
1-2
0-0
4
2
1
Amihere
1:19
0-0
0-0
0-0
0
0
0
Mwenentanda
1:19
0-0
0-0
0-0
1
0
0
Totals
200:00
32-69
13-18
9-28
25
16
95
Percentages: FG .464, FT .722.
3-Point Goals: 18-40, .450 (Thornton 5-10, Salaun 3-6, Burton 2-2, Chen 2-2, Stokes 2-3, Jocyte 2-5, Charles 1-3, Zandalasini 1-4, G.Williams 0-5).
Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: None.
Blocked Shots: 4 (Stokes 3, Thornton).
Turnovers: 7 (Jocyte 2, Zandalasini 2, Burton, Charles, Thornton).
Steals: 9 (Zandalasini 4, Stokes 2, G.Williams, Hayes, Thornton).
Technical Fouls: None.
Portland
20
16
20
21
-
77
Golden State
21
35
18
21
-
95
A_18,064 (18,064). T_1:55.
Thornton did her part on the boards, corralling a team-high eight rebounds. The Valkyries also created open 3-point shots with crisp ball movement, highlighted by Burton's game-high nine assists.
The win pushed the Valkyries to 6-3 on this young season, ahead of a quick and demanding road trip. They travel to Minneapolis on Wednesday, play the Lynx on Thursday night, fly to Las Vegas on Friday and face the Aces at noon Saturday.
Some context on those 12 first-half 3-pointers (also a franchise record): The Valkyries entered Tuesday leading the WNBA with an average of 11.5 made 3s per game. So, yes, they surpassed their average before halftime.
Golden State finished 18-for-40 (45%) from deep. The Valkyries also lead the league in 3-point attempts per game (31.4) and 3-point shooting percentage (38.9).
Thornton made three triples in the first quarter and another one from the corner to punctuate her team's first-half outburst. Salaun and Juste Jocyte each drilled two in the half. In all, seven Golden State players made at least one 3-pointer before halftime.
Most of them were open shots, in rhythm, the not-so-coincidental byproduct of moving the ball. And then there was Cecilia Zandalasini's outrageous, step-back 3 from the wing with 3:26 in the first half.
She not only drained the shot, she also drew a foul (subsequently upgraded to a flagrant-1) and made the free-throw attempt. That stretched the Valkyries' lead to 12 points on their way to a 56-36 halftime cushion; Golden State outscored Portland 35-16 in the second quarter, essentially the difference in the game.
Set aside Zandalasini's memorable bucket, and the Valkyries' offense hummed with purpose.
"I think it was our drive-and-kicks, getting into the paint and passing it out," Thornton said. "And then having our shooters ready to shoot."
Thornton clearly was ready. Her five 3s came in the wake of the four she made Sunday, giving her consecutive games of four-plus makes beyond the arc for the first time in her career.
One byproduct of scoring this way: The crowd at Chase Center, always eager to erupt, finds more reason to become boisterous. That was evident during Tuesday night's wild, 35-point second quarter.
"Anytime you score, Ballhalla goes crazy," Thornton said. "I think that (making 3s) amps things up even more. Again, it goes back to our guards getting in the paint and spraying it out, and believing we can shoot and knock them down."
Tuesday night's game was the first of seven this month for the Valkyries in the Commissioner's Cup, the WNBA's in-season tournament. One team from each conference will advance to the championship game June 30, based on its record in those seven contests.
This game also marked the return of Portland guard Carla Leite to San Francisco. Leite was a productive player off the bench last season for Golden State, and she quickly has blossomed into a productive starter for the Fire (6-5) - averaging 15.9 points and 5.0 assists entering the game.
Leite, who received a nice ovation in pregame introductions, had 10 points and seven assists against her former team.
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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 2:07 AM.