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 direction to a - win Monday night over Golden State at Gateway Center The Dream outscored the Valkyries - in the fourth quarter 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 meeting 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 encounter and seven in the last five minutes They led by as much as points in the first half Atlanta scored points off turnovers We re not going to win any match with turnovers All-Star forward Kayla Thornton declared We ve got to go back into the books sit down together re-evaluate each other re-evaluate ourselves and figure out what we have to do We have two big games coming up to finish this road trip Forward Monique Billings led Golden State with points with Thornton scoring and Tiffany Hayes For Atlanta Naz Hillman had points and Brionna Jones Billings resisted blaming the venue I don t know if the road has anything to do with it Billings reported I think it s just about us being consistent We started out great threw the first punch and that s a really good association Credit to them It comes down to us being consistent building off the losses and learning from them 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 In a event where the teams appeared pretty equal in terms of physicality Atlanta had free throws making while Golden State had just nine making them all They get more free throws and we lost the encounter by nine coach Natalie Nakase mentioned I get it Home cooking But to me I thought for sure we were going up just as aggressive as their players and we just did not get the whistle I m going to keep fighting for my players and -to- is just too much for me Forward Monique Billings rises for a shot Monday night for the Golden State Valkyries against the Atlanta Dream Getty Images 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 event 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 Veronica 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 Atlanta 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 battle 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 indeed got chills when I located out Nakase explained 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 competition winners and she commented I m just wanting to show up and be myself It was the same answer over and over again she s constantly guarding the top participant closing games It s huge It was Thornton s first All-Star selection