The Chase Center crowd went ballistic as the final buzzer sounded. But for the first time, the applause wasn’t the result of a Golden State Warriors win — this time, it was the Golden State Valkyries who were victorious, the WNBA’s newest expansion team.
The Valkyries just made history, and that’s not even the coolest part
Valkyries guard Veronica Burton was out of the league just a year ago. Now, she was a critical part of the Valkyries’ first-ever franchise win.
Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
It only took the Valkyries two tries, but head coach Natalie Nakase and a scrappy Valkyries roster got in the win column on Wednesday night with a 76-74 win over the Washington Mystics.
And, perhaps the coolest part of the victory was the reality that it was spearheaded by a player who was out of the league just a year ago: Veronica Burton. Burton racked up a team-high 22 points on 6-11 shooting, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, hitting the dagger three-pointer with 29 seconds to play. In the win, she set new career-highs in points and rebounds.
Kayla Thornton added 18 points, Carla Leite and Janelle Salaun each added 10, and the Valkyries overcame a 30-point performance by Brittney Sykes to come away with the win.
A year ago, Veronica Burton was out of the WNBA
The 5’9 guard had a circuitous journey to Valkyries’ glory; last May, the Dallas Wings waived Burton, and she found herself out of the WNBA.
The Connecticut Sun picked her up midseason, and she emerged as a reliable backup point guard who also served as a high-quality guard defender, playing 19.3 minutes per game in the 2024 postseason.
Then, while playing overseas in Australia in the offseason, Burton received the news that the WNBA’s newest team had selected her in their December expansion draft.
“It’s an incredible opportunity, and just a blessing, to be a part of this draft and of history,” Burton told SB Nation shortly after she was selected. “Being able to play in the inaugural season and in the Bay Area is something that I could have never even dreamed of. It’s something that I don’t want to take for granted.”
Just a few months later, she’s established herself as the Valkyries’ starting point guard and as a critical component of the franchise’s first win.
The first-year expectations for the Valkyries are low — the franchise wasn’t able to recruit many top free agents, and none of the team’s 2025 draft selections are currently with the team. Most predict the Valkyries will be one of the worst teams in the league.
But Burton and her teammates are ready to defy expectations.
“We all have a chip on our shoulder, and we’re all ready to compete,” Burton said in December. “Everyone kind of assumes, you know, ‘first year, we’ll see what they can do. Just make the most of what you have.’ But when you have just kind of the mindset that you’re hungry and the underdog mindset — at least for me, I don’t know, I have really high expectations for this year. The grittiness will come out and just the passion and excitement to play.”
On Wednesday night in San Francisco, it all came together in front of a fanbase eager to watch history.
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