While the Golden State Valkyries came up short against the defending champion New York Liberty, Janelle Salaün played one of the best games in her young WNBA career so far.

The rookie from France collected her first WNBA double-double, leading the Valkyries with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Averaging 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds through four games this season, Salaün is emerging as one of the top rookies in the W.

However, after the game, Salaün was more concerned about the 82-77 loss to the Liberty than her individual performance.

“We were a little bit satisfied by the way we fought. That was way better than the first game,” Salaün said when asked about the team's morale after the tight loss. “We can see we're building, we're getting better, but [like I said] previously, it's tough. It's still a loss. We're all competitive people, and we're not going to be satisfied after that.”

The Valkyries played much better after New York blew them out 95-67 early this week. After the offense was tough to come by in the first, Golden State bounced back with nine players scoring a made basket. But it wasn't enough as the Liberty's dynamic duo of Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu scored 27 and 24 points, respectively.

In the same press conference, she chimed in while Salaün was being hard on herself for her performance in the first Liberty loss.

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“I want to give a shout-out to this one,” Billings said, smiling at Salaün. “Being a rookie, it's not easy in this league. And she's just come in and really shined. And so, I'm really proud of you, don't be hard on yourself. You're killing.”

Monique Billings, alongside Salaün, had a strong performance for the Valkyries. After missing the last two games, she muscled her way to 10 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. Salaün returned the compliments back to Billings.

“You're killing too. That was her first game back,” Salaün said, turning to the reporters. “Did you see what she did? She was jumping out there. Flying. Big shout out to her, it's not easy in this league.”

The schedule won't make it any easier on Salaün, Billings, and the Valkyries moving forward. They return home for a Commissioner's Cup matchup with the Minnesota Lynx. They'll have to find an answer for early MVP favorite Napheesa Collier, if she's available. She's averaging a league high 26.8 points per game as well as 7.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals. It's a challenge Salaün is well aware of.

“We're gonna get back to work and we have more games to come,” Salaün said. “Minnesota, it's going to be tough also.”