Valkyries vs. Mercury: Janelle Salaun Drops 21 Off the Bench as Golden State Wins Its Home Opener

Mercury in retrograde usually gets blamed for lost keys and regrettable texts. On Sunday night in San Francisco, it explained a second quarter. One day after flattening the defending champions 99-66 in Las Vegas, Phoenix walked into Chase Center, jumped out 7-0, and then got outscored 31-11 in a single period by a team that was only warming up for its own party.

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Phoenix Mercury 95-79 in their home opener to move to 2-0. Janelle Salaun scored 21 off the bench, Gabby Williams had 19 points and five rebounds in her home debut after signing with the team last month, Kayla Thornton added 19, and Veronica Burton ran the whole operation with 13 points and 12 assists. According to the Valkyries, it is also their first win ever over the Mercury, following four losses in 2025.

Thirty-One to Eleven

Phoenix's early lead reached 20-13 before Golden State trimmed it to 20-17 after one. Then the second quarter opened with a 21-6 Valkyries burst and the mood in the building changed completely. Golden State made 12 of its first 14 shots from the field in the period, Thornton scored 12 during the surge, a later 8-0 run pushed the margin to 46-28, and it was 48-31 at intermission.

Phoenix did not go away, and that matters. A 9-0 run bridging halftime cut it to 48-39, and the Mercury won the third 31-18 to get within 66-62. Kiana Williams hit a 3 with 8:03 to go to make it 73-68, and two Alyssa Thomas free throws with 7:34 left made it 73-70. A road team finishing a back-to-back had just chewed a 17-point halftime hole all the way down to three.

Then came Salaun, and the argument ended. She knocked down three free throws with 5:43 left, scored on a layup the next time down, and a 10-0 run had the Valkyries up 83-70. Phoenix scraped back within 83-76, but Gabby Williams answered with a 3 off a Burton pass at 2:52, Laeticia Amihere converted a three-point play, and Williams hit another Burton-assisted 3 with 46.8 seconds left to send everybody home happy.

The Bench Mob Ran the Building

Salaun went 7 of 10 from the field, 4 of 5 from 3 and 3 of 3 at the line in 26 minutes, following up her 20 points in the opener at Seattle. Her own explanation undersold it. "I'm just trying to bring energy whenever I'm coming on the court and you know," she said. "Also, my teammates are doing a great job finding me." The plus-27 suggests she was doing a little more than that.

Amihere may have been even more disruptive. She played 24 minutes off the bench and filled every column with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, and her plus-33 was the best mark in the game. That is the number to circle if you want to know how this got out of hand.

Burton handed out 12 assists without a single turnover and made all six of her free throws, recording her sixth career double-double in the process. Gabby Williams shot 4 of 9 from deep and grabbed four steals in her first home game as a Valkyrie. Thornton was efficient and relentless at 8 of 14.

Thomas gave Phoenix a monster line of 19 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, one board shy of a triple-double, but she also had six of the team's 17 turnovers. Rookie Jovana Nogic scored 16 and hit 4 of 5 from 3. After that, things got thin. Kahleah Copper shot 4 of 15 and finished minus-16, DeWanna Bonner scored five on 2-of-9 shooting, and Natasha Mack went from 15 rebounds on Saturday to two on Sunday.

The Ninety Seconds That Settled It

The Valkyries could have folded when that lead shrank to three. Instead, they scored 10 straight in about a minute and a half, starting at the 6:52 mark and ending at 5:18, and Phoenix never got closer than seven the rest of the way. Thornton's postgame version was simple: "We're playing Valkyries ball," she said. "We were all locked in on defense, we were taking away what they wanted to do."

The numbers back her up. Golden State piled up 10 steals to Phoenix's two and turned 17 Mercury turnovers into 24 points. Phoenix shot 50% from 3 and still lost by 16, which tells you how many possessions it gave away before it could even get a shot up. The Mercury attempted 54 shots to Golden State's 67.

Stats That Matter

• 31-11: Golden State's second-quarter margin, the game's defining stretch.
• 10-2: The Valkyries' edge in steals.
• 24-11: Golden State's advantage in points off turnovers.
• 11 of 22: Phoenix from 3, a great shooting night wasted.
• 38-24: The Valkyries' margin in the paint.

What It Means Going Forward

Golden State is 2-0 overall and 1-0 at home after a 91-80 win at Seattle on Friday, and it got here without Tiffany Hayes (left pinky) and Cecilia Zandalasini (concussion). Kaila Charles stepped into the starting lineup and hit the first home bucket of the year. The crowd of 18,064 was another sellout, after the team filled all 22 regular-season home dates in 2025. Chicago visits on Wednesday.

Phoenix drops to 1-1, with both games on the road, and now gets to go home. The Mercury's own opener at home comes Tuesday against Minnesota, and they will have a couple of days to figure out how the team that dismantled Las Vegas on Saturday turned into the one that coughed the ball up 17 times on Sunday. Back-to-backs are hard. They are harder when the second game is against this bench.

Who Gets Through the Doors

Burton took the microphone before tipoff and addressed Ballhalla, the fan base's pun on Valhalla, and the crowd loved it. In the old Norse stories, Valkyries are the ones who decide who gets through the doors of the great hall. Head coach Natalie Nakase gave the visitors their due afterward. "This team has a lot of fight, but I was proud of our team for continuing to battle through all the punches that they threw," she said. Fair enough. Phoenix had a great Saturday. Golden State had the guest list.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes from the Golden State Valkyries. Other game details as reported by the Associated Press.