WNBA Recaps: Valkatraz Suffocates New York, Amoore’s Fourth-Quarter Explosion

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Thursday night’s two-game WNBA slate shook up middle-tier playoff seeding as Golden State put on a defensive masterclass at Barclays Center and Washington erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit in Phoenix.

Matchup	Winner	Final Score	Top Performers	Postseason Impact
GSV @ NYL	Golden State Valkyries	79–60	Veronica Burton: 8 PTS, 13 AST, 0 TO Gabby Williams: 4-8 3PT	Valkyries (28–11) lock down #2 seed; Liberty (23–16) drop to #8 seed
WAS @ PHX	Washington Mystics	80–73	Georgia Amoore: 25 PTS (16 in 4Q) Kahleah Copper: 35 PTS	Mystics (24–15) leap to #6 seed; Mercury (13–26) drop home finale

Matchup

Winner

Final Score

Top Performers

Postseason Impact

GSV @ NYL

Golden State Valkyries

79–60

Veronica Burton: 8 PTS, 13 AST, 0 TO

Gabby Williams: 4-8 3PT

Valkyries (28–11) lock down #2 seed; Liberty (23–16) drop to #8 seed

WAS @ PHX

Washington Mystics

80–73

Georgia Amoore: 25 PTS (16 in 4Q)

Kahleah Copper: 35 PTS

Mystics (24–15) leap to #6 seed; Mercury (13–26) drop home finale

Golden State Valkyries 79, New York Liberty 60

Defensive Lockdown: Golden State’s suffocating “Valkatraz” defense held New York to 60 points—the Liberty’s lowest scoring output of the season. The win completed a remarkable 3–0 road trip sweep over top competition, holding Minnesota (66 pts), Connecticut (64 pts), and New York (60 pts) to season-low totals on their home floors.
Burton’s Historic Playmaking: Point guard Veronica Burton dished out 13 assists with zero turnovers. It marked her fifth game this season with 10+ assists and zero giveaways, trailing only Sue Bird (7) for the most such games in WNBA history. Gabby Williams paced the scoring by connecting on four three-pointers and finished with 16 points, while Cecelia Zandalasini led the team with 20.
New York’s Slump: The Liberty struggled to find rhythm after four days of rest, committing costly turnovers and falling behind early as their offense sputtered against Golden State’s perimeter pressure. They got plenty of open looks but just kept missing the shot. Brenna Stewart led New York with 16 points, and Jonquel Jones added 16. The rest of the starters shot 5-35 from the field.

Washington Mystics 80, Phoenix Mercury 73

Amoore’s Fourth-Quarter Takeover: Trailing 63–53 with eight minutes remaining, rookie guard Georgia Amoore spearheaded a game-ending 27–10 push for Washington. Amoore scored 16 of her career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, drilling six three-pointers—including back-to-back daggers with under two minutes left to put the Mystics ahead for good.
Frontcourt Support: Kiki Iriafen anchored the interior with 20 points and 12 rebounds for her 19th double-double of the season, while Shakira Austin chipped in 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Mercury Highlight: Kahleah Copper poured in 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting for Phoenix. In the loss, Copper became the fastest player in franchise history to reach 2,000 points in a Mercury uniform (103 games), surpassing Diana Taurasi and Cappie Pondexter.

Current WNBA Standings & Playoff Picture

With the regular season concluding this weekend, all eight postseason spots have been secured, but seeding outside of the top three remains fluid. Washington’s victory combined with New York’s loss vaulted the Mystics into the #6 spot.

Seed	Team	Record	Win %	Status / Streak
1	Minnesota Lynx	31–8	.795	Clinched No. 1 Overall Seed
2	Golden State Valkyries	28–11	.718	Clinched No. 2 Seed (W3)
3	Las Vegas Aces	26–13	.667	Clinched Playoff Spot (W2)
4	Atlanta Dream	25–13	.658	Clinched Playoff Spot (W4)
5	Indiana Fever	25–14	.641	Clinched Playoff Spot (W1)
6	Washington Mystics	24–15	.615	Jumped to No. 6 Seed (W3)
7	Dallas Wings	23–16	.590	Holds Tiebreaker over NY (W3)
8	New York Liberty	23–16	.590	Slid to No. 8 Seed (L1)