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With everyone wondering who will be the Golden State Valkyries' standout player in their inaugural season in the WNBA, Laeticia Amihere made a strong case for herself in the team's preseason debut versus Kelsey Plum and the Los Angeles Sparks.
Coming off the bench, Amihere powered her way to 20 points in 19 minutes. She shot 7-of-11 from the floor, collecting points in the paint and beyond the arc. The highlight of her night was a third-quarter buzzer-beater to tie the game at 57. It capped off a comeback third quarter in which the Valkyries outscored the Sparks 32-18. From there, she scored 14 fourth-quarter points, but Golden State came up short 83-82.
Laeticia Amihere with the third quarter buzzer beater to tie the game at 57-57!
Crowd buzzing after a huge 32-18 quarter in favor of the Valkyries! pic.twitter.com/dLqHFqFIyI
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) May 7, 2025
In her post-game press conference, the SF Chronicle's Marisa Ingemi asked Amihere about her approach to the game and how the team's offense fits her style of play.
“Keeping it simple. Honestly, I think this offense [and] how we move as a team is very conducive to how I like to play and how many of us like to play,” Amihere explained. ” That's why coach [Natalie Nakase] brought us together. So just keeping it simple, moving with the ball, seeing what my teammates had, and capitalizing off that.”
It was a performance that might earn Amihere a spot on the Valkyries' 12-player roster. With 17 players at training camp, it's a heated competition to make the team right now. However, with the instant offense Amihere offers, Golden State will definitely have to take a hard look at her fit with this team.
For Amihere, she's focused on building on the momentous night in Valkyries' history. ClutchPoints' Kenzo Fukuda asked Amihere about what she wants to improve on moving forward.
“This is kind of the baseline of things in terms of our team,” Amihere said. “Obviously, there are a lot of things to work on and a lot of positives to take from this game. But honestly, we're working on everything. We're coming in as a fresh new team and figuring out our identity.
How the rest of the Valkyries fared in the team's debut
While the Valkyries were adamant that the team is still figuring out their on-court identity, Amihere wasn't the only player to stand out. Starters Monique Billings and Kayla Thornton were Golden State's only form of consistent offense in the first half. They finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds total, with neither one playing more than 20 minutes.
But Billings herself etched her name in Valkyries' history. She scored the franchise's very first basket on a driving layup to the rim. Later, she drained the Valkyries' first-ever 3-pointer after the team missed their first 13 shots from distance.
Kate Martin was the other Valkyrie who stood out in the team's debut. As a fan-favorite thanks to her time on the Las Vegas Aces and her close proximity to Caitlin Clark, Martin received a loud applause from the fired-up Chase Center crowd. In 18 minutes, she finished with 8 points, three rebounds, and two steals. But she was also a big part of the Valkyries' landslide third quarter.
With her at the helm, next to Amihere, Carla Leite, Julie Vanloo, and Kyara Linskens, the Valkyries went on an 11-0 run to get back in the game. And while it was a mostly experimental lineup against the Sparks' bench, this group played hard. They offered size, versatility, spacing, and tempo, something that was lacking earlier in the game.
Regardless, the Valkyries are only one preseason game in. There is still a lot of experimenting to be done before the team is in a place where it wants to be. For now, the team has Thornton's pride in them. The former New York Liberty praised this group's efforts in the same press conference.
“I applaud our second group coming in. We picked it u,p and I told some of them, ‘keep the momentum going and they did an excellent job of that,” Thornton said. “Like I said, I'm proud of our team and how we played today. We started out a little rough, but that's okay. I told [the team] when we went to the locker room, ‘Please don't be discouraged.' This is our first time with all of us playing together in a new system, but I think we exceeded our expectations of what this game was going to be.”
