WNBA History Was Made in Valkyries' Win Over Mystics
The Golden State Valkyries have been rolling on a three game win streak, most recently with a 88-83 win over the Washington Mystics on Wednesday night.
Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase has seemingly found her stride with her team firing on all cylinders. Forward Cecilia Zandalasini and guards Tiffany Hayes and and Veronica Burton have been at the head of the pack in the streak.
Burton most notably went off against the Mystics, dropping a game-leading 30 points along with seven rebounds and seven assists. The standout performance is a major achievement for both Burton and the franchise: it's the first 30-piece in both Burton's career and in the history of the Valkyries, another milestone for the expansion franchise from The Bay in their debut season.
Burton's entire stat line extends past personal or Valkyries history straight into the WNBA's. Burton is just the second player in WNBA history to drop a 30/5/5 line with a 95% True Shooting percentage, a metric that measures players shooting efficiency.
Veronica Burton is just the 2nd player in WNBA history to record 30/5/5 on 95% TS. pic.twitter.com/hQv9kTKrWm
— Real Sports (@realapp_) August 14, 2025
Burton shot 10-13 from the field, including a massive six three pointers on the way to the victory for the Valkyries and career night for herself.
"It's definitely is a confidence thing, a rhythm thing; I feel like it's been our whole team, honestly," Burton said postgame (via Valkyries). "The way we've been moving the ball, you know it's going to find you."
2025 has been a breakout year for Burton. In 32 games with the Valkyries, all starts, she has career-best averages in all five major stats while more than tripling her next-best points-per-game total, 11.2 in 2025 compared to her 3.1 PPG average in 2024 with the Connecticut Sun.
A big part of that is simply the chances the Valkyries have given her. Burton is averaging 28.8 minutes a game with the Valkyries this season which is more than her minute averages from the past two seasons combined.
"Opportunity is big thing," Burton added postgame on Wednesday. "I've been grateful to have an opportunity to play and compete. I've had a coaching staff and teammates that instill a lot of confidence in me and that goes a long way in terms of success on-court."
It seems that Burton has found a home in Golden State, proving herself to be an integral piece to a basketball machine that defies expectations daily and is well on its way to a playoff push.
Bio: Jack Haslett is a writer and photographer covering Golden State Valkyries basketball for Sports Illustrated. Jack has previously published work with the Sporting Tribune, the Long Beach Current and DIG Magazine, covering sports, community events and news. A graduate from Long Beach State University, Jack has a passion for writing, photography and all things sports.