Mystics, Valkyries battle for playoff positioning in DC

The Golden State Valkyries will be out to replicate the first victory in franchise history when they arrive in the nation's capital for the first time to face the Washington Mystics on Thursday.

The Valkyries' impressive debut season started with a season-opening loss before they turned their second game into a 76-74 home victory over the Mystics on May 21.

Golden State (12-13) was two games over .500 just 16 games into their first season and stood 10-9 on July 9. The team has gone just 2-4 since, but can reach .500 again Thursday following a 77-75 road victory over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.

The Valkyries are trying to climb while dealing with key injuries. They will be without leading scorer and rebounder Kayla Thornton (14.0 ppg, 7 rpg) for the remainder of the season, though they have gone 2-1 since her right knee injury that occurred in practice. Guard Monique Billings (7.5 ppg) returned from an ankle injury and played nine minutes against the Dream before departing again. Reports say she has been ruled out for Thursday's game.

Cecilia Zandalasini not only scored a team-high 18 points, she went 7 of 11 from the floor and made a game-winning pull-up jumper with 3.2 seconds remaining. Tiffany Hayes scored 15 points and Carla Leite added 12.

"We're talking about resilience, so it felt good to (win) on the road without two of our big leaders in (Billings) and K.T.," Hayes said. "Kudos to us. It was a whole team win. We handled business."

The Mystics (13-13) are closing out a five-game homestand that has been break-even so far. Sonia Citron scored 28 points and Kiki Iriafen added 22 as the rookies turned career-high scoring efforts into a convincing 103-86 victory over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday.

"Their talent is one thing; they are outstanding players and have worked hard," said Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson. "But then to come to this league and want to be great and be really open to coaching, through highs and lows ... the future is really bright."

Thursday's game features playoff implications with the Mystics in eighth place and the Valkyries in ninth with just over a month remaining in the regular season. The top eight teams in the standings advance to the postseason.

Washington missed the playoffs last season and has not advanced past the first round since winning the title in 2019.