Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...SAN FRANCISCO – When Kelsey Plum dribbled left, Gabby Williams moved with her. When Plum drove right, Williams went in that direction. When Plum pushed forward, Williams was right there to meet her.
Wherever the Los Angeles superstar went on Monday night at Chase Center, the Valkyries’ top defender was immediately there to meet her in Golden State’s 78-58 victory.
Plum entered the night averaging 26.6 points per game, a number that would be second only to 2024 A’Ja Wilson for the highest mark in the WNBA’s 30-year history if the numbers held up for an entire season. Last year, Plum welcomed the Valkyries to the WNBA by scoring 37 points in the team’s first-ever game in San Francisco.
But against a suffocating new-look defense spearheaded by Williams, the Valkyries stifled Plum to the tune of a season-low nine points on 3-of-10 shooting and just 2 of 3 from the free throw line. Her 10 shot attempts were tied for a season low.
The work began early in the shot clock and far away from the basket.
“I was trying to pick her up as high up the floor as I could,” Williams said, “and I just trusted that my teammates were behind me, which they were.”
That relentless fullcourt pressure was revealed to be a little bit of freelancing from arguably the game’s top perimeter stopper.
“Picking up 94 feet, that actually wasn’t on the report, so she went above and beyond with that.” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said.
Williams had the accolades to justify giving her the tough assignment. She has twice been named to the WNBA All-Defense team, and has been the EuroLeague’s Defensive Player of the Year in each of the previous two seasons with Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe.
Ever the humble star, Williams gave credit to her teammates rather than take the glory for herself.
“My teammates definitely helped me out a lot,” Williams said earnestly.
She had a point. Kaila Charles was a frenetic bundle of energy off the bench, scoring a season-high 13 points and giving the Valkyries a fearsome defensive tandem on the wing with Williams. If Plum wanted to go anywhere, she had to get past one of those two.
And even if she did, behind them was center Kiah Stokes and versatile forward Kayla Thornton, who clogged up any driving gaps Plum might have had against a less-disciplined defense.
The result was the fewest points allowed in any game for the Valkyries this season, and lowered the team’s already league-leading statistic for points allowed per game (79.8).
The Sparks also did everything they could to avoid having Williams shadow Plum. They would have their star scorer guard Ceci Zandalasini when the Valkyries had the ball, but Williams never seemed to have much trouble matching back up with Plum once possession changed.
Even when Williams was given a play or two off from being the primary defender on Plum, her Valkyries teammates stepped up.
It was the kind of effort Nakase demands of her team, and a display they will need to replicate if they wish to slow down Dallas’ high-powered backcourt of Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Arike Ogunbowale on Wednesday.
“A lot of maximum effort is what we asked of everyone today,” Nakase said. “You can’t just stop Plum with her matchup alone, so it was good that we were throwing her different covers and different looks.”