Minutes after securing her first career win as a head coach, Golden State Valkyries' Natalie Nakase strolled into the press conference decked out in a fuzzy black robe. The Valkyries beat the Washington Mystics 76-74.

“Excuse the robe, it's a little dramatic,” Nakase said, half-serious, half-joking, as she sat down at the podium. She had just come from the Valkyries locker room, where the players drenched her in a celebratory water bottle shower. A well-deserved celebration for a hard-fought win over the Mystics.

“They had the robe ready for me. They knew [the shower] was going to happen. I tried my best not to get out [of the way]. But yeah, I enjoyed it. I did a little dance move.”

But that was the only time Nakase talked about herself and the fact that she got her first career win as a head coach. Instead, she talked about everyone else's efforts and how it led to the team securing the Valkyries' first-ever victory.

“It's more of a credit to the players and my staff,” Nakase stated. “This definitely wasn't just me or about me.”

Nakase raved about Veronica Burton's important offensive performance. Burton finished with a career-high 22 points along with nine rebounds and five assists. The first-time head coach also praised rookies Carla Leite and Janelle Salaün for stepping up in the closing lineup in the fourth quarter.

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Nakase also credited her coaching staff for their important tactical contribution. She cited assistant coach Kasib Powell for his defensive coverages as well as Director of Player Development Sidney Parsons for her scouting job. Nakase revealed that the coaching staff did an extra hour of prep to get ready for the Mystics.

“We talked about attention to detail in the game plan. We made a lot of, I would say, intentional preparation and shootaround today to make sure we're all the same page,” Nakase explained. “My gut feeling that I told my staff: This is going to go down to the wire. I don't know what it is, we're probably going to have a close game. And so luckily, like all the coaches, we actually met for an extra hour and just made sure we're prepared on any level.”

That prep paid off as the team made important adjustments late in the game to stop Mystics' guard Brittney Sykes. Though Sykes finished with a game-high 30 points, the Valkyries intentionally funnelled a majority of Washington's shots toward her.

As a result of this defensive strategy, the Mystics were cold and uncomfortable down the stretch. Thus, when Nakase readjusted the defense to double Sykes on every pick and roll, they forced the ball out of her hands and got important defensive stops. In close basketball games, execution and good coaching win out. The Valkyries were better on both fronts, which is why they pulled out the victory.

However, this was just one win in a long WNBA season. And Nakase understands this. In the same press conference, Nakase was asked if she felt relief after securing her and the new franchise's first win very early in the season.

“No. I mean, we've been working really, really hard for this. Like I said, we've only played 40 minutes. Now, it's 80 minutes together. it's just credit to everyone prepping, you know, putting in all the hard work,” Nakase said. “It's just a collective effort of everyone, and then everyone kind of being intentional for execution.”