The Golden State Valkyries rode a hot shooting night to defeat the Seattle Storm 78-76 in WNBA preseason play at Chase Center on Saturday night. 

The Valkyries’ guards played a key role in the victory as the team made its debut with the new campaign slogan, “This is Ballhalla,” representing the community influence and energy that the fans bring every night.

Guard Veronica Burton said that playing in front of Ballhalla was incredible and that she wasn’t surprised the fans sold out the arena for a preseason game. 

“The energy is amazing, and we really feed off of it, so shoutout to our fans. They genuinely are the best fans in the league,” Burton said.

Coming off a breakout year with the Valkyries, Burton earned herself the Most Improved Player award.

Burton took command of the game early with two quick 3-pointers and finished the first half with 14 points and three assists before being shut down for the rest of the game. 

After the quick start from the Valkyries, the Storm settled into the game by getting into the paint on offense. 

Seattle rookie guard Flau’jae Johnson had 10 points while going back and forth with fans sitting courtside.

Johnson was originally drafted 8th overall by Golden State in the 2026 WNBA draft before being traded to the Storm on draft night.

The Valkyries struggled to get by the Storm’s strong perimeter defense, causing them to go into halftime down 42-33.

Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase emphasized the team’s need to improve their starts, noting that it’s already been addressed internally.

“I do think that we need a better start, and we talked about that, and they owned it too. So they promised me then, tomorrow we can watch some film,” Nakase said. 

The Valkyries started off the third with guard Kate Martin hitting two 3-pointers, riling up the crowd to start the second half. 

Rookie forward Marta Suarez scored her first WNBA points on a driving layup and followed it up a few minutes later with a 3-pointer that gave Golden State the lead with just four minutes left in the third quarter. 

Second-year guard Kaitlyn Chen played the entire second half and kept the offense steady down the stretch against the Storm defense. 

As a team, Golden State was able to counter Seattle’s interior attack with 3-pointers, shooting 45% from beyond the arc while hitting eight more than Seattle.

Guard Miela Sowah made her grand introduction to Ballhalla in the early fourth quarter with a shooting barrage that helped give the Valkyries the edge over the Storm late. 

After hitting three straight 3-pointers, Sowah got the ball at the end of the shot clock on the left wing and hit a wildly contested deep midrange shot that sent all 18,064 fans into a frenzy.

“I had heard Ballhalla was really loud, and my gosh, it was loud, so yeah, it was (a) super fun atmosphere,” Sowah said. 

Sowah is currently on a training camp deal with the team and is fighting for her spot on the final roster. 

The sharpshooting guard averaged 17.8 points per game and shot 40% from 3-point range last season in the Women’s National Basketball League in Australia. 

Sowah made her WNBA debut at the 4:19 mark of the 3rd quarter and finished the game with 14 points in 14 minutes. 

“I was super excited. I think my teammates were getting around me. This is the dream, so it’s pretty cool getting to live it out, and I loved it. It was amazing,” Sowah said.

The sellout crowd could be felt throughout the fourth quarter and into the waning seconds when Sowah found center Mariella Fasoula under the basket for a layup that put the Valkyries up 2 points with 32 seconds left. 

The Valkyries closed out the win after a crucial defensive stop and a game-sealing free-throw.

Golden State’s second unit played a majority of the second half minutes featuring rookies and players on training camp deals.

“It looked like we were connected, almost for a whole year, even with the new players, and so then we played with a lot of joy,” Nakase said. “Then Ballhalla got into it, and it was really fun.”

Golden State will look to build off its successful inaugural season as the Valkyries take on the Storm in their season opener in Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m.