Golden State Valkyries Called God, Game and & Played Fetch With Indiana

We Got 12 Dogs and a Prayer: Valkyries locked up Caitlin Clark Locked Up Like It Was TSA, Crowd Erupts, and the Bench ate Good

The Golden State Valkyries gave their team another great win to celebrate in Ballhalla. In front of yet sold out another crowd the Valkyries defeated the Indiana Fever 88-77 on Thursday night.

This was the sixth straight home game, sixth straight madhouse. Caitlin Clark came to town and the Valkyries turned her night into a full-on defensive clinic.

The crowd smelled blood.

So did Tiffany Hayes.

And keep in mind that the dogs barked much louder than the hype.

The mission was clear. No inspirational speeches, no fancy schemes. Just body her.

“The plan was to stop her, that’s it,” said Tiffany Hayes. “And I think we did a good job as a team doing that… and we executed very well.”

Clark finished with one of her worst games as a professional. Clark’s shooting was off this entire night as the superstar guard finished with 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting, including 0-for-7 from deep. Her shot looked off, her rhythm looked rattled, and her patented lefty stepback looked like a travel drill.

Austin Kelly, filling in as acting Fever coach, confirmed what we all saw. “Be physical with her, that’s been the game plan all year long.”

And Valks head coach Natalie Nakase didn’t just gameplan it — she manifested it.

“You guys saw what we’re doing…we’re being disruptive,”

Nakase said. “She doesn’t want [to deal] with physicality… I watched her at Iowa. She loves that left stepback, it’s almost like a layup for her. We guarded it well.”

That lefty move? DOA.

When Clark did finally pull it off late in the game, Tip had her so boxed she hit a double stepback and got called for the travel. Nakase loved every second: “That’s a great call, right? Credit to Tip. She knew how to maneuver her and get her to travel.”

The Valkyries didn’t just slow her down — they made her night miserable.

Kelsey Mitchell didn’t sugarcoat anything on the Fever side:

“It’s not about CC specifically… we were soft… they made us pay by being stronger, tougher… we allowed it. Kind of tucked our tail a little bit on aggression side… be aggressive and stop being so soft, as a group we just collectively allowed too much.”

Laeticia Amihere Played Like the Gospel Was on the Line

Laeticia Amihere played this game like she’d been waiting her whole life for it. No hesitation. No smile. Just tunnel vision and muscle memory.

“I owe it all to the Lord,” Amihere said postgame. “There are seasons in your life you’re going to endure whether high or low… I knew it wasn’t my time at that time… and I’m coming in (now) and it is my time.”

You could feel that shift. She came in and played like the moment owed her money. Natalie Nakase has been watching closely.

“She has that Kobe mentality face,” Nakase said. “She never smiles throughout the game. I love what she brings… very mature, true pro. A lot of people would get down, disappointed, but she hung with it… The best thing about LA is you can draw her a play and she’ll execute it.”

Bench Mob Feeds, Crowd Explodes, and Brandin Podziemski Steals the Tunnel

Golden State’s bench dropped 40+ points. Forty. That’s more than Indiana’s entire second-half output.

Natalie Nakase made it plain: “Our team just stays ready… credit to the coaching staff… credit to the players that want to stay ready… they’re not just working, they are working extra.”

Kate Martin showed up and balled like Clark wasn’t even there.

“Kate went out there and balled,” Nakase said. “Balled her ass off.”

And while we’re here, shoutout Brandin Podziemski for being courtside dripped out in Valkyrie gear — again.

“He’s just a great supporter,” Kayla Thornton said. “He has everybody’s jersey so any given night he’s wearing anyone’s jersey… Just to see him hyped up gives me a little more energy… shoutout to them (GSW)… because we do need it.”

Let’s keep it a buck — this team feeds off energy. Their fans know it. The players know it.

“It really turns us up,” Hayes said. “They really are like the 6th man here.”

Aliyah Boston even tipped her hat: “They have a great fanbase out here… a lot of energy… you can feel the energy, it’s pretty great.”

Nakase wrapped it perfectly: “Our fans were definitely our super power tonight.”

Everyone’s a Dog, Even the Coach

From the starters to the 12th player, every Valk locked in. Every screen fought through. Every loose ball dove on. Every minute exhausted.

“We keep talking about we want to be the best defensive team,” Nakase said. “We wanted to make sure they (Indiana) saw our best… that’s what you saw tonight — everyone connected… everyone exhausting their minutes.”

And if you think this is just early-season hype, think again. This team’s identity is set.

“We’re strong in our own way,” said Kayla Thornton. “We’re all stars, we bring something special to this team… at the end of the day 1-12, we’re all dogs and we’re going to bring what we did to other teams to here.”

Nakase took it even further: “We knew… I call them killers. Yeah I knew. You can see the way they play even from last season… those are the players to me that will always give you extra possessions because they are willing to sacrifice their body… they play so hard. We knew we had 12 dogs.”