# No way through: How the Valkyries have made the league’s best guards disappear > Source: > Published: 2026-06-29 17:20:36+00:00 **Getting your** [Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...SAN FRANCISCO — [Sabrina Ionescu](https://www.espn.com/wnba/player/_/id/4066533/sabrina-ionescu) couldn’t escape. Every curl off a screen, a black jersey was already there. Every jab step she took, a defender didn’t bite. She’d set up shop off the ball, feeling for space, and find a hand pressed against chest and a set of eyes locked on her like she owed somebody some money. The sharpshooting point guard who makes a living off deception, off angles and off making defenders look silly couldn’t find a sliver of daylight. She couldn’t get downhill. She couldn’t even get a clean look at the basket. The [Golden State Valkyries](https://www.mercurynews.com/sports/wnba/golden-state-valkyries/) made what was a dream Bay Area homecoming for the [Miramonte High alum](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/27/sabrina-ionsecu-miramonte-bay-area-high-school-basketball/) into an on-court nightmare. Her final stat line: Nine points on 3-of-10 shooting in a [76-67 loss](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/28/valkyries-instant-analysis-golden-state-crushes-new-york-liberty-as-defense-shuts-down-sabrina-ionescu/). It wasn’t a fluke. All season, the Valkyries have made a habit of turning the league’s most dangerous guards into nonfactors. Kelsey Plum, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, Kahleah Copper and now Ionescu have been swallowed up by a defensive identity that makes it a point to stop the opponent’s best ball handlers. “I think they just take pride on that side of the ball,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said of her team’s guards. “Those are the players we intentionally went after. When we talk about deep roster and strength in numbers, it’s because you need to be able to sustain guarding, a Sabrina, a Paige, a Kelsey Plum. I think it’s heart and hustle.” The Valkyries have the second-best defensive rating in the WNBA (102.6) and it starts with arguably three of the best point-of-attack defenders in the league under one roof: Kaila Charles, Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton. Each of them relentless. Each of them different. Charles is the enforcer. The 6-foot guard has the length and physicality to make even the most confident ball handlers feel small. She gets into their body – chest to chest, hip to hip – and uses her defensive IQ to cut off angles before they develop. Williams, an all-defensive first-team selection last year, is a disrupter. She appears out of nowhere, oftentimes from angles that don’t even make sense, and suddenly the ball is gone and she’s on the other end laying the ball up. Her anticipation is almost unfair as a product of quick instincts wrapped inside one of the most physically gifted frames in the league. And then there’s Burton, who the team often refers to as the “head of the snake.” She is a pressure cooker personified – someone who stays relentlessly attached to her assignment from the moment they cross half court. She’s a brick wall to try to pass and her quick hands make it hard for the craftiest of guards to maneuver. If Charles takes your space and Williams takes your confidence, Burton is the one that will take your will. By the fourth quarter, guards who have been through the trio’s cycle all night will start to look like they’d rather be anywhere else. The resume speaks for itself. Before Ionescu, it was Bueckers who was held to an inefficient 5-of-13 for 15 points on June 17. Caitlin Clark, the face of the WNBA’s new era, managed 16 points on 3-for-12 from the field a month ago. Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper, one of the most explosive scorers in the league, has averaged 10 points on 26% shooting from the field in two matchups. Even former Valkyrie Carla Leite, who is in the mix for an All-Star selection and one of the front runners for most improved player of the year, got off just six shots and finished with 10 points when Portland rolled through the Bay Area in early June. But what makes the Valkyries genuinely dangerous defensively isn’t just Burton, Williams and Charles. It’s what comes next. When Nakase goes to her bench, the intensity doesn’t dip. Veteran Tiffany Hayes slides in and picks up right where the starters left off, bringing the same pressure, the same discipline, the same pride on that end. And then there’s Kaitlyn Chen, the second-year point guard who overcomes some of her athletic deficiencies by picking up 94 feet and always seemingly knows where to be. And even if somehow you get past the first line of defense, the Valkyries have a backline that consists of players like Kiah Stokes and Laeticia Amihere, the former being one of the league leaders in blocks. “I think people give me and Gabby a lot of credit, but then we have a player like Kaila and we have players like (Tiffany Hayes), and we have one after the next that can come in and defend,” Burton said. “I think it’s really easy to give us all that, but it genuinely is our entire team. We have a lot of people that take pride on the defensive end, and a lot of really incredible defenders but it allows us to get into people. A lot of guards like to shoot threes, and it’s hard to get into them because a lot of teams don’t have a back line that they can rely on, but we do.” The defense comes in waves. Quarter after quarter of constant defensive pressure. By the time the buzzer sounds – win or loss – opposing guards are tired and beaten down. The game plan is simple, and it works because everyone in the locker room has bought into the same gameplan: make it hard on every possession for 40 minutes and let depth do its damage. “There’s no drop off from Veronica to then Kaila to Tiffany Hayes,” Nakase said. “Then we’re throwing Gabby on them, so just again being able to utilize so many guards. And then you got Kia, you got (Laeticia Amihere), you got (Kayla Thornton), you got (Janelle Salaün). It’s just a lot of players that play with a lot of heart and hustle.”