SAN JOSE — When Cecilia Zandalasini’s fading jumper from the right wing bounced off the back of the rim as the final buzzer sounded, the roar from the Ballhalla crowd momentarily turned into a sigh.
As the visiting Minnesota Lynx celebrated what became a comeback victory for the ages to advance to the playoff semifinals, the Italian sharpshooter laid on the ground with her hands over her head – deflated, defeated and in shock that the Valkyries season ended right then and there.
For a brief moment, time seemed to stop.
Then, her teammates pulled Zandalasini to her feet, wrapped her into an embrace and guided her to midcourt where the Valkyries huddled one last time.
There, players gathered under the bright SAP Center lights – some with tears in their eyes, others smiling through the heartbreak – for one last embrace to share how proud they were of what they accomplished this season. The crowd’s sigh turned into loud, passionate chants of “GSV” as the expansion team’s season crescendoed into this one final moment.
But for all the sting, the Valkyries carved out something greater than what they showed on the floor Wednesday night.
They showed the world who they were. A team that’s determined, fearless and unafraid of the biggest stages. They established that an expansion team can not only belong in the playoffs, but can reshape expectations in Year 1.
“We’re the first expansion team to go this far. We basically just made history,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “I’m just so proud of them for just allowing me to push them past what they felt that they can do. That’s not easy. A lot of people kind of like to stay put. They like to be stagnant. Not this team. This team. Don’t like to be stagnant. They like to be challenged.”
While the final result wasn’t what the Valkyries ultimately hoped for, it’s clear that the foundation of what could be was built.
Nakase and the Valkyries defied all the odds in their inaugural season, overperforming what most experts believed was going to be a rocky, developmental year. Golden State overcame losing most of its rotation to the EuroBasket tournament in June, losing lone All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury midway through the season and rotating through over 20 players over the course of its 44 games.
And while the Valkyries embraced the underdog mentality, they rejected the notion that they needed a marquee, household player on this team to succeed. For what they accomplished this year, they were right.
“People in this group are special,” rookie forward Janelle Salaün said. “Yes, we don’t have a big name. Yes, there were no stars, but we’re (expletive) underdogs. We’re fire.”
Despite having a 14-point lead going into the fourth quarter, the Lynx never felt completely out of the game. With all the star power the top-seeded team had, one more run felt inevitable. The question was, were the Valkyries going to withstand one last Minnesota punch?
The Lynx opened the final period with a 9-0 run, to turn what was a comfortable margin from the home team into a sinking lead.
The comeback was methodical. Nothing special, just a wave of buckets and stops.
In crunch time, Minnesota finally took a one-point lead on a jumper from Napheesa Collier that silenced the Ballhall faithful. The teams went back and forth in the final minute, but the difference was ultimately the Lynx’s ability to get production from each one of their star players down the stretch.
Even after Zandalasini’s last-second shot bounced off the rim and the Lynx sealed their fate to move onto the second round, the Valkyries earned the respect of the league’s top team. The two teams played each other a total of six times this season, including twice in the final week of the regular season. Though Minnesota won all six games, it was clear nothing came easy for the star-studded Lynx.
“They play so hard, you can definitely tell that they’re well coached,” Lynx All-Star forward Kayla McBride said. “They know who they are. They have an identity, and they stick to it. But I think it’s a lot of players that believe in each other.
“It starts with (Veronica) Burton and just trickles down to everybody. It’s contagious.”
The Valkyries may not have advanced, but they walked off the court to something more enduring – a fan base that claimed it as its own. What began as curiosity in April had transformed into a roaring, loyal following by September, filling Ballhalla with chants that carried the team through every run, every rally and every impossible moment.
In the span of one season, Golden State didn’t just build a team. It built a culture. One defined by resilience, connection and the belief that no challenge was too steep. For a franchise still in its infancy, those intangibles may prove to be the most important victories of all.
As the players lingered on the floor long after the buzzer, waving to fans who refused to stop cheering, the future already felt a little less like a mystery. The Valkyries had set their standard, and in doing so, had ensured that Year 2 won’t be about proving they belong, but about how far they can go.
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