Janelle Salaun sank four 3-pointers to highlight her 15-point performance, lifting the Golden State Valkyries to a convincing 89-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday in Uncasville, Conn.
Kaila Charles collected 14 points and eight rebounds for the Valkyries (27-11), who saw 14 players log minutes en route to finishing off a three-game season sweep of Connecticut.
Second-place Golden State moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Las Vegas Aces (26-13).
Veronica Burton recorded 12 points and seven assists and Kaitlyn Chen added 10 points for the Valkyries, who shot a robust 54% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range. The Sun, in turn, shot 31% and 19.4%, respectively.
Golden State also dominated on the interior, holding a 42-30 advantage in rebounds and 42-28 edge in points in the paint.
Connecticut rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker scored a season-high 17 points and Nell Angloma added 11 off the bench.
Aaliyah Edwards scored eight points, one day after recording a career-high 26 in an 87-81 victory over the Chicago Sky.
The Sun (10-28) played without Brittney Griner for the sixth consecutive contest and Olivia Nelson-Ododa for the second time in as many games due to their respective knee injuries.
Edwards made a layup to trim Golden State’s lead to 8-7 midway through the first before the Valkyries ignited an 18-4 run to end the quarter. Burton and Salaun each drained a 3-pointer during that sequence.
Connecticut trimmed its deficit to 14 points at 41-27 before Golden State ignited a 14-0 run to end the second quarter. Cecilia Zandalasini scored seven straight points before Kiah Stokes added five and Gabby Williams added a driving layup.
The teams split 50 points equally in the third quarter before Golden State scored the first seven in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
–Field Level Media
