Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün (13), who scored 24 points, shoots a 3-pointer over Toronto’s Kia Nurse (11) in the first half Sunday at Chase Center. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

By Michael Roberson

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Golden State Valkyries (20-9) managed to overcome a blown double-digit lead and come back and overwhelmed the expansion Toronto Tempo (10-19) 96-79, in front of 18,064 fans in the Chase Center Sunday night.

The Valkyries opened the game with a 4-0 run, and had the crowd in a frenzy.  However, the Tempo had a 6-0 run of their own, to take the lead.  They held their advantage, before the home team fought back.  

Golden State finished the initial quarter with a 5-point lead, 25-20.  During the tense first quarter, there were four lead changes and two ties.  The heavily favored Valkyries appeared to have a battle on their hands.  The Tempo gave the appearance they were in the City by the Bay to play.

In the second quadrant, the Valkyries led by as many as 13 points, but managed to squander most of it by recess.  Toronto was on the verge of being blown out of the arena, but managed to forge their way back to a minute deficit, instead of double-figures.  By the time the halftime whistle blew, that 13-point lead was whittled to just one point, 44-43.

At the midway point of the game, one player from both teams managed to score at least 10 points.  Gabby Williams logged ten points for the Valkyries, while Nyara Sabally produced 12 points and seven rebounds for her Canadian organization after 20 minutes.  The Valkyries had some explaining to do at the break.

Although the Valkyries managed to score the first bucket of the second half, they were still in jeopardy of losing that previous huge lead.  Toronto did finally overcome that 13-point disadvantage at the 7:54 mark of the third quarter., 49-48.  The Valkyries were on their heels and about to disappoint the Bay Area faithful supporters.  The Tempo put the lead up to their top notch of a five point lead (56-51) approximately two minutes later.

Golden State managed to turn that deficit to an 8-point lead late in the same quarter, and eventually settled for a lead of six (67-61) after 30 minutes of WNBA action.  The Valkyries appeared to have righted the ship.

In the Final stanza, the Valkyries pushed the lead as high as 17 points, and took total control of the contest.  During the second half, despite lead changes, Golden State outscored the Tempo by 16 points.  Toronto’s coach even intimated that her team may have run out of gas in the second half.  They did have an uphill battle most of the game.

At the final buzzer, the full house erupted with joy as the Valkyries won their 20th game of the season, and fought off a potentially embarrassing loss.  After it was all said and done, the second year squad won in blowout fashion, 96-79.  The Tempo will have come right back at the victors in part two of the series.

Janelle SaSalaun led all scorers with 24 points.  Veronica Burton contributed 17 points and six assists, while Gabby Williams and Tiffany Hayes tallied 15 points.  Kiah Stokes grabbed 11 rebounds, to go with her eight points.

Toronto’s starting five all reached the 10+ points plateau.  The aforementioned Sabally led with 19 points and eight rebounds.  Rookie sensation Kiki Rice put up 16 points and five assists, Laura Juskaite (15), Julie Allemand (11) and six assists, and Maria Conde (10), five rebounds and five assists..

Both teams will be right at it in Ballhalla on Tuesday, August 4 at 7:00 PM PT on KMAX/KPIX+.