SAN FRANCISCO -- The Valkyries opened their inaugural 2025 WNBA season Friday night at Chase Center, and their first win in franchise history will have to wait.
Golden State, the first WNBA expansion team since 2008, fell to Kelsey Plum and the Los Angeles Sparks 84-67 in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,064 fans, including several familiar faces such as Warriors coach Steve Kerr and many of his players.
While the Valkyries are the newbies in town in the WNBA, the rivalry between the Bay and Los Angeles lived on Friday night. "Beat LA" chants broke out midway through the third quarter as Golden State made a run.
But the energy, although radiant throughout the walls of Chase Center, wasn't enough for the Valkyries to feed off of as Plum's monster second half helped the Sparks secure the victory.
Plum finished with a game-high 37 points, six assists and two rebounds in 40 minutes.
For the Valkyries, Tiffany Hayes led the way with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and 2 of 5 from 3-point range, adding nine rebounds and one assist in 30 minutes. Temi Fagbenle added 15 points in 32 minutes and Julie Vanloo's 14 points off the bench were big for Golden State.
Los Angeles outscored Golden State 40-22 in the paint, outshot them and turned the ball over 10 fewer times. That feels like the recipe for a win.
Here are the takeaways from the Valkyries' historic season opener:
History was made
Lavender shirts were folded over every chair inside Chase Center hours before tip-off Friday night. Across the cotton t-shirts read, “First of a lifetime,” in big, bold, black letters. That same message appeared in several other places around the arena, including along the wall to the entryway to Golden State’s locker room.
Those four words are the team’s new branding. But they are so much more.
“Yeah, it’s special,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said pregame. “Not everyone gets to be chosen to be the first. So I do. I feel lucky they chose me. They could have chosen a million other candidates that are more qualified. So I have to take this with a lot of responsibility, but be present. Enjoy it as best as you can.”
There were a lot of firsts Friday night. Kayla Thornton made the first-ever Valkyries basket, a 17-foot jumper, and grabbed the first-ever Valkyries rebound. Kate Martin dished out the first-ever Valkyries assist.
There will continue to be a lot of firsts all season long. But Friday was the perfect way to set the stage for a special season. And from start to finish, the vibes inside Chase Center reciprocated just that.
A complacent offense
It's hard to win a game when you turn the ball over 22 times.
Or when you shoot 37 percent from the field and 27 percent from 3-point range.
Somehow, though, the Valkyries kept the game mostly competitive for 40 minutes despite all their self-inflicted mistakes.
Los Angeles scored 25 points off Golden State's 22 turnovers. That's nearly 30 percent of their shots that came from the Vakyries' carelessness with the ball.
There's a lot to learn for this new team. Sure. But the fundamentals of the game can't be excused.
KP steals the show
Kelsey Plum has become a household name since becoming a two-time WNBA champion. It was her first WNBA game in the Bay Area, but you could hardly tell.
In her first season with the Sparks since the blockbuster three-team trade with the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm this past offseason, Plum was the only Sparks player to receive loud applause while the visiting team's starting lineup was announced. And for good reason.
She returned the energy, putting on a show in the second half.
After finishing the first half with 11 points, Plum strung together a monster second-half performance with 17 third-quarter points and three 3-pointers. She added nine more in the fourth to finish the game with 37 points.