Valkyries vs. Tempo: Janelle Salaun Scores 24 Off the Bench as Golden State Ends Skid in 96-79 Win

A 13-point lead disappeared in less than two minutes at the end of the first half, and 18,064 people at Chase Center spent the break doing the math on a third straight loss. Then Janelle Salaun came back out and handled it.

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Toronto Tempo 96-79 on Sunday night, winning the second half 52-36 and ending a two-game skid. Salaun scored 24 off the bench, Veronica Burton added 17 points and six assists, and Gabby Williams and Tiffany Hayes each had 15 for a team that remembered, just in time, how much fun defense can be in this building.

From 44-31 to 44-43 in a Hurry

The early going looked like a Valkyries clinic. Five different players hit threes in the final five minutes of the first quarter, according to the team: Burton, Williams, Kayla Thornton, Hayes and Kaila Charles. Golden State went 5 of 8 from deep in the period to lead 25-20. A 9-0 run in the second made it 39-26, and Cecilia Zandalasini's three with 2:34 left in the half made it 44-31.

That's when Toronto stopped cooperating. The Tempo scored the last 12 points of the half, the Valkyries didn't score again before the buzzer, and what had looked like a blowout was 44-43 at the break.

The third quarter stayed tight for a while. This game had eight lead changes, and Toronto led by as many as five at one point. Salaun's three with 1:30 left in the period made it 66-59, and it was 67-61 going into the fourth, when Golden State finally put 29 on the board and pulled away for good.

Salaun Doesn't Need a Starting Spot

Salaun shot 9 of 15, hit 4 of 9 threes, and finished two points short of the career-high 26 she dropped on this same Toronto team on July 8. The team says it's the seventh time this season she has made at least four threes. This was also her first game since July 29 against Phoenix, when her 69th three set the WNBA record for threes by a reserve in a season. So yes, she added to it.

Burton was the steadying hand, going 6 of 10 and 3 of 4 from deep with six assists and two steals. Hayes, also off the bench, scored 15 in 20 minutes and picked up a milestone along the way, moving ahead of Swin Cash into 28th place on the league's career scoring list with a pair of free throws, per the team. Zandalasini's five assists were a career high, and Williams didn't miss from deep, going 3 of 3 on her way to 15 points in 19 minutes.

The most important player on the floor may have been the one who scored eight. Kiah Stokes blocked a shot on Toronto's first possession, pulled down 11 rebounds, finished with all five of Golden State's blocks and went plus-30 in 32 minutes. Nobody else on either side came close to that number.

Nyara Sabally led Toronto with 19 points and eight rebounds, Kiki Rice had 16, Laura Juskaite scored 15 on 5 of 7 shooting, and Julie Allemand added 11 points and six assists. The Tempo were without leading scorer Marina Mabrey because of a neck injury, and it showed from distance: Maria Conde went 0 for 7 from three and Isabelle Harrison 0 for 4, as Toronto finished 7 of 30.

Two Three-Point Plays, One Game Over

The moment it turned came early in the fourth. Burton finished a three-point play with 6:55 to go, then came up with a steal at 6:14, and Salaun converted an and-one moments later to make it 80-68. That's six quick points built around one defensive play, and it took a nervy single-digit game and made it feel settled. Toronto never got back within single digits.

From there it was a victory parade with better shooting. Burton's 27-foot step-back with 2:18 left made it 90-76, and the Valkyries' final margin of 17 was also their biggest lead of the night. A team that spent the first half letting a big lead slip spent the last six minutes refusing to give anything back.

The defense deserves a chunk of the credit. After surrendering 23 points in the second quarter, Golden State held Toronto to 18 in the third and 18 in the fourth, and it finished with eight steals to the Tempo's three. Toronto's bench, meanwhile, scored eight points all night on 3 of 16 shooting. When your starters have to do all of it and the threes aren't falling, a one-point deficit at halftime is about as close as you're getting to an upset.

Numbers Worth Keeping

• 46-8: Golden State's edge in bench points, the widest gap on the sheet.
• 14 of 29 vs. 7 of 30: The three-point line, worth a 21-point swing.
• 5-1: Blocks, with Stokes accounting for all five.
• 34-26: Toronto's rebounding edge, including 10 offensive boards. It did not move the needle.

Back on Track, Same Opponent Next

Golden State is 20-9 and 12-4 at home. The skid it just ended came right after a nine-game winning streak, so this was never quite a crisis, and the Valkyries are now 2-0 against Toronto this season. They'll get another look on Tuesday night in the same building.

The expansion Tempo are 10-19 after their sixth straight loss and their 10th in 11 games. This was the opener of a five-game road trip, and it doesn't get any softer on Tuesday.

The Scene Stealer

Every great ensemble movie has one: the name nowhere near the top of the poster who walks off with the whole thing. Golden State has Salaun in that part, already holding the league's single-season record for threes by a reserve and then, on a night when her team needed somebody to calm things down, scoring 24 as though the script called for it. Toronto has two days to rewrite the ending, and it has tried twice this season without finding a draft that keeps her under 24.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Team notes from the Golden State Valkyries. Game context as reported by the Associated Press.