The NY Liberty enter Balhalla, exit with close win against the Golden State Valkyries

The Liberty entered a hostile environment and did just enough to get past a quality Valkyries team.

Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Road trips are always challenging. You’re far from home, in another part of the country, and you’re playing at times you’re not normally used to. It’s never easy and these games require a bit more in order to win. As the New York Liberty continue their Western swing, they were able to muster up enough to withstand a great challenge.

The Golden State Valkyries entered this game riding a two game winning streak and five wins in the last six contests. The team has started to establish themselves in the WNBA and have exceeded all expectations so far. It was going to take a lot for New York to come away with a win, and their leader set the tone early.

Breanna Stewart scored 21 of her game high 23 points in the first half as she made a living in the paint. When the Liberty get two feet in the paint, great things tend to happen and with Stewart having the best season of her career in two point territory, it was automatic

“I think,” Stewart said in postgame, “just speaking individually for myself in the first half, I was really trying to be aggressive. I knew that in the previous two games, I got a lot of great looks, especially going downhill, and they were struggling with what they were doing in a post to guard screen, so I was just taking what they were giving me. And then the second half, the paint definitely closed up a little bit. But I’m happy and proud of the way that we’re resilient.

There’s a lot of things that are happening on our team and we continue to fight through it no matter who’s on the court. We know that this road trip is tough, and we want to take it one game at a time, and this was an incredible atmosphere to be a part of, and [I’m] happy we were walking away with the win.”

Without Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich for the time being, more will be asked of Stewart on offense. She’s shown she’s more than capable of doing what it takes to win, and as New York gets more comfortable running new lineups, Stewart will serve as the foundation of everything they try to do.

Stewart got some help off the bench from Marine Johannès. When MJ is dialed in and engaged on both sides of the ball, she provides the Liberty with much needed spacing and a pinch of magic.

Despite those moments of excellence, the Valkyries hung in for much of the game thanks to the efforts of Kate Martin. The second year Iowa guard led the Valks in scoring with 21 points off the bench and scored 14 of the team’s 17 points in the fourth quarter. There were a few instances where the Liberty overhelped or just had miscommunications on defense and Money Martin cashed in:

With the Valkyries down three points with a chance to force overtime, coach Natalie Nakase dialed her number. Natasha Cloud got the matchup for the Liberty, and here’s how it played out

Final score: New York Liberty 81, Golden State Valkyries 78

KB steps it up

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Kennedy Burke has been one of the best players on the Liberty in 2025. KB has been reliable coming off the bench and has transformed into one of the league’s best three point shooters overnight. Entering the contest, Burke was shooting a blistering 56.4 percent from three point range. She made four threes tonight, and when the Liberty couldn’t do anything against the Valkyries defense in the second half, helped give them just enough room to hang on

“I think when we when we needed her,” Stewart said, “when we were able to really lean on her, KB stepped up. And that’s really important, and that’s huge for what we do. I think it goes beyond the threes. She’s able to stretch the floor and knock down big shots.

But the way that she was all over the place defensively, the way that she was really kind of getting our action, our offense, moving from one side to the next, trying to take advantage of any mismatch that she had, was huge for us. Especially when it was a little bit of a struggle for some other players, she stepped up big time, and that’s exactly what we need from her.”

With Rebekah Gardner playing well as the starter, it has allowed Burke to slide back into her natural role of sixth woman coming off of the bench. It allows the Liberty’s depth to shine and allows for Gardner’s energy to kickstart the first unit.

Homecoming!

Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Sabrina Ionescu is still not 100 percent. The Liberty All-Star said as much in postgame when she admitted she couldn’t fully turn her neck in either direction. However, she said the pain is manageable and with this being her first pro game in the Bay Area, she was going to do her best in front of her friends and family.

Ionescu only went 1-11 from the field on Wednesday, but she scored ten of her 11 points in the fourth quarter and made what turned out to be the game saving play on defense

Stewart gave Ionescu a big hug and spoke about that moment after the game:

“I probably [told her] “Big f***ing steal!!” because that’s what it was.”

Over the years, Ionescu has talked about wanting to become a better defender. In the early portion of her WNBA career, teams would consistently hunt her on defense as they looked to punish her on ball and catch her falling asleep off the ball. She’s made so many strides on that end and is not a net negative defender anymore. That effort has added another dimension to her game and ensures the Liberty are elite on both sides of the ball. It’s a continuing process and one she’s committed to working on.

Next up

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The road trip continues and the heat is on as the Liberty head to the desert to take on the Phoenix Mercury. Another late night party as the game tips off at 10 PM Eastern time on Friday night.