Valkyries vs. Lynx: Cecilia Zandalasini Scores 18 as Golden State Wins at Target Center for the First Time

For two seasons, Target Center had been a haunted house for the Golden State Valkyries. On Monday night they flipped on the lights.

Cecilia Zandalasini scored 18 points against her former team, Golden State forced 18 turnovers, and the Valkyries beat the Minnesota Lynx 80-66 in Minneapolis. Per the Valkyries, it was the franchise's first-ever win against Minnesota at Target Center. Before Monday, the Valkyries were winless against Minnesota, 0-6 in regular-season meetings and 0-3 in the postseason, and the 14-point margin was the biggest any opponent has put on the Lynx this season.

Down Early, Then the Zone Took Over

The top-seeded Lynx came out swinging. They scored the first eight points of the game, and the 16,001 fans in the building were ready for a seventh straight Minnesota win. Golden State spent the rest of the quarter clawing back, and Janelle Salaun finished a two-on-one fast break with a go-ahead layup right at the first-quarter buzzer for a 17-16 lead. The team said it was her third basket of the period.

The second quarter belonged to the defense. Golden State leaned heavily on a zone, according to the team, and turned passing lanes into a buffet. A 9-0 run flipped a 25-22 deficit into a 31-25 lead, and the Valkyries took a 34-32 edge into halftime.

The game tilted in the third. Golden State won the period 21-16 to lead 55-48, and then put Minnesota away in the fourth with an 8-0 run that turned a 63-57 game into a 71-57 lead. Zandalasini drained a 25-foot step-back 3 off a Veronica Burton pass to cap that burst, then added a 27-foot fadeaway and a driving layup over the next two minutes to make it 77-58, Golden State's biggest lead of the night at 19. Gabby Williams added a 3 with 47 seconds left to seal it.

The Turning Point: Burton's Fourth-Quarter Takeover

Zandalasini's barrage gets the highlight package, but Burton's burst mattered just as much. The team said she scored seven straight Valkyries points in the fourth quarter, opening with a 27-foot 3, then beating Olivia Miles off the dribble for a left-handed finish and catching her again with a mid-range step-back. Between Burton's attacks off the dribble and Zandalasini's shooting from deep, the Lynx ran out of answers in a hurry.

Zandalasini, Burton and a Five-Way Scoring Split

Zandalasini went 7 of 17 from the field with two 3-pointers and was perfect at the line. According to the team, 14 of her 18 points came in the second half on 5-of-10 shooting. She also added two steals and a block.

Burton might have been even better. She finished with 14 points, nine assists and five steals, tying her career high in steals, and committed only one turnover. Only one other player this season had put together a game with 14 points, nine assists and five steals, according to the Valkyries: Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young. Golden State also pointed out that her 3.14 career assist-to-turnover ratio is a WNBA record among players with at least 500 career assists.

Williams scored 15 with three 3-pointers, seven of her points coming in the fourth quarter. Tiffany Hayes added 14 points and four assists off the bench, her sixth straight game in double figures, per the team. Salaun scored 12 with five rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes, and the team noted she began the night as WNBA history's highest-scoring reserve in a single season. Kiah Stokes grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots. The scoring spread was the point: five Valkyries reached double figures, and nobody needed to force anything to get there.

For Minnesota, nothing came easily. Natasha Howard led the Lynx with 13 points and seven rebounds, getting most of her damage at the free-throw line. Kayla McBride scored 12 but shot 2 of 11. Napheesa Collier was held to nine points on 10 shots, which the team said was her lowest total of the season. Miles, who the Valkyries said came in averaging 20.0 points a game, finished with eight points on 3-of-12 shooting and four turnovers. Per the team, she has been held to single digits twice this season, and Golden State did it both times.

Stats That Matter

• 18 turnovers forced. Golden State turned them into 21 points while committing only six turnovers of its own, per the team.
• 12 steals. Burton had five, and Williams and Zandalasini each had two.
• 21 of 59. Minnesota's 35.6% shooting was a season low, according to the Valkyries.
• 66 points. The Lynx's lowest total of the season, and the team said it was the first time Minnesota had been held under 70 since June 24, 2025.
• 12-33 from deep. Golden State's 3-point volume won out over Minnesota's 10-30.

What It Means

Golden State improved to 26-11, including 11-6 on the road, and snapped a two-game losing streak that had included a 77-66 home loss to these same Lynx last week. The Valkyries had dropped all three meetings with Minnesota this season before Monday.

The Valkyries said the win kept Minnesota from clinching the No. 1 seed and pulled them within four games of the top spot with seven to play. They also sit a game ahead of Las Vegas for second place and two games ahead of fifth-place Indiana, according to the team. The Valkyries have now held opponents to 70 points or fewer in 11 games this season, which the team said leads the league.

Minnesota fell to 31-8 and 14-6 at home, and the loss ended a six-game winning streak.

Next comes a back-to-back on the same road swing: Connecticut on Wednesday, then New York on Thursday.

Final Word

Every horror movie has the scene where somebody finally decides to stop running and turn around. That was Golden State on Monday. The building that had spooked the Valkyries for two seasons turned out to be just a building, and the team that walked out of it looks a lot more like a real threat for whoever lands that top seed.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game notes, records and standings context from the Golden State Valkyries. ESPN did not carry an Associated Press story for this game.