Monique

Billings

Although Iliana Rupert earned the start after Temi Fágbénlé (knee) was a late scratch on Wednesday, it was Billings who had the greatest impact in the frontcourt for Golden State on Wednesday. She led the team in scoring and was steady on the offensive end throughout. Billings and Rupert ultimately alternated fourth-quarter minutes in the loss and had their own key baskets down the stretch, including Billings’ putback layup with under two minutes remaining to give the Valkyries their final lead of the game. Despite coming up short, Billings ends her season strongly, tallying her third-highest scoring output of the year.

Fagbénlé was a late scratch on Wednesday, as she was ruled out just before Wednesday’s Game 2 tipoff, and was replaced in the Valkyries’ opening lineup by Iliana Rupert. Fagbénlé had tallied 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists in the Game 1 loss — her absence will leave Golden State’s frontcourt noticeably thinner. Expect Rupert and Monique Billings to see more minutes than usual in Fagbénlé’s absence.

Tuesday’s game was the first for Zandalasini since August 17, and she was on a minutes restriction. With the playoffs on the horizon, the Valkyries’ priority for her was likely to give Zandalasini enough time to shake off the rust. Also, they’ll have Thursday’s game against the Lynx to get her more time. Iliana Rupert remained in the starting lineup on Tuesday (6/3/2/1/1 with two three-pointers in 17 minutes), while Monique Billings (5/5/1/1 with one three-pointer) played 25 minutes off the bench.

While Golden State’s starters made some big plays in crunch time, the team’s bench came up big on Thursday. The Valkyries’ reserves outscored their Wings counterparts by a 35-7 margin, with Leite leading the way. Three games removed from matching her season-high with 19 points, the rookie guard contributed 15 to help the Valkyries clinch their first postseason berth. Monique Billings also hit double figures off the bench, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and three blocked shots. Those two will be critical for the Valkyries moving forward, as the franchise has leaned heavily on its depth to surprise the WNBA.

Initially injured during a July 16 loss to Seattle, Billings aggravated her ankle injury in Golden State’s first game out of the All-Star break on July 29. While the Valkyries did not announce if the forward will be under a minutes restriction, her return gives Golden State’s frontcourt rotation a welcome boost. The Valkryies waived recent hardship signing Bree Hall to make room for Billings on the active roster.

Charles made a lot of the hustle plays for the Valkyries on Wednesday night proving exactly why head coach Natalie Nakase was so interested in signing the wing to a first seven-day contract on August 1. With Kayla Thornton out for the season and Monique Billings out for weeks rather than days, the Valkyries took advantage of an opportunity to add to their wing depth. Charles moved well off the ball scoring half of her field goals on off ball movement. She got on the glass and was the team’s third highest rebounder behind Tiffany Hayes and Temi Fágbénlé. One of her scores came on a putback layup.

With Cecilia Zandalasini and Monique Billings out due to injury, Amihere has had more opportunities to contribute. She was productive against the Aces, finishing one rebound shy of her second double-double. While Amihere is not at the point where she’s worth the risk in standard fantasy leagues, managers in deeper leagues may want to consider her as long as Golden State remains without Zandalasini and Billings, as the team is already without All-Star Kayla Thornton for the rest of the season.

Billings re-injured her right ankle during a July 29 game against the Dream, with the ankle issue initially sidelining her for the Valkyries’ final two games before the All-Star break. With Kayla Thornton (knee) out for the season and Cecilia Zandalasini missing Thursday’s win over the Mystics with a foot injury, Golden State was down three rotation forwards for their most recent outing. The Valkyries signed wing Kaila Charles to a seven-day hardship contract to account for Billings’ absence.

Billings, who missed Golden State’s final two games before the All-Star break with an ankle injury, went down during Tuesday’s win over the Dream. With Kayla Thornton (knee) done for the season, Golden State will be down two rotation forwards for the foreseeable future. Cecilia Zandalasini will likely return to the starting lineup after coming off the bench on Tuesday, raising her fantasy ceiling.

Without Kayla Thornton for the rest of the season, the Valkyries have been looking for someone to step up. On Tuesday night that was Italian 6'2" wing Cecilia Zandalasini who came off the bench in place of Monique Billings. Billings only played in nine minutes after falling down in the second quarter, and she was out for the rest of the game. Zandalasini began the game making three straight three-pointers and then as the game went on, she put the ball on the floor and drove. Zandalasini made two key plays for the Valkyries with less than 20 seconds left in regulation. First she stole the ball from Brionna Jones with 19.5 seconds left in the fourth and then after the Valkeryies took a time out, she got downhill and drove past Allisha Gray and hit an 11-foot game- winning pull-up jumper to give Golden State a 77-75 lead with only three seconds on the clock.