{"slug": "valkyries-shut-down-mystics-setting-franchise-record-in-win", "title": "Valkyries shut down Mystics, setting franchise record in win", "summary": "The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Washington Mystics 62-49 on Monday night, setting a franchise record for fewest points allowed in a game. Kaitlyn Chen scored 14 points off the bench to lead Golden State to its fifth straight victory. The Mystics were held to 30% shooting and 49 points, the lowest in the WNBA this season.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...WASHINGTON (AP) — [Kaitlyn Chen](https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/18/chensanity-why-kaitlyn-chens-big-night-is-exactly-what-the-valkyries-needed/) scored 14 points off the bench and the [Golden State Valkyries](https://www.mercurynews.com/sports/wnba/golden-state-valkyries/) shut down the Washington Mystics 62-49 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory.\n\nGolden State (15-7) set a franchise record for the fewest points allowed in a game. The Valkyries held the Mystics to 18-of-60 shooting (30%), including 3 of 24 from 3-point range. The Mystics’ 49 points were also the fewest points in a WNBA game this season.\n\n“We created 17 total turnovers for 14 points,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase told reporters after the game. “That’s attention to detail in terms of our defense.”\n\nChen made six of her nine shots in just 21 minutes to help Golden State’s bench players reach 39 points. Veronica Burton was the Valkyries’ highest-scoring starter with seven points.\n\nFormer Stanford star Kiki Iriafen had 12 points and nine rebounds for Washington (10-10), which had won five of its previous seven games. Shakira Austin had 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Mystics were without starter Sonia Citron (knee) for a second straight game.\n\nGolden State pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Washington 19-7 for a 50-40 lead. [Chen completed a three-point play](https://x.com/valkyries/status/2074300503610077391) with 8:12 remaining in the fourth for a 55-40 lead, the largest of the game.\n\n“We’ve been talking a lot about our defense and how we have to rely on our defense every night, and so in the second half we locked in on the game plan,” Nakase said. “We allowed 22 paint points in the first half, and then it took another step.”\n\nThe Mystics were held to nine points in the fourth.\n\nGolden State scored its fewest points in a game this season.\n\n#### Up next\n\nGolden State: At Toronto on Wednesday.\n\nWashington: Hosts Seattle on Sunday.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/valkyries-shut-down-mystics-setting-franchise-record-in-win", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/07/06/golden-state-valkyries-washington-mystics-kaitlyn-chen/", "published_at": "2026-07-07 02:34:09+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-07 03:00:08.448803+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools"], "entities": ["Golden State Valkyries", "Washington Mystics", "Kaitlyn Chen", "Natalie Nakase", "Veronica Burton", "Kiki Iriafen", "Shakira Austin", "Sonia Citron"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/valkyries-shut-down-mystics-setting-franchise-record-in-win", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/valkyries-shut-down-mystics-setting-franchise-record-in-win.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/valkyries-shut-down-mystics-setting-franchise-record-in-win.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/valkyries-shut-down-mystics-setting-franchise-record-in-win.jsonld"}}