Kiah Stokes has spent 11 seasons in the WNBA building a reputation as one of the league’s most reliable defenders. This year, she’s adding a new dimension to her game. In her debut season with the Golden State Valkyries, Stokes is putting together one of the best three-point shooting stretches of her career. Head coach Natalie Nakase says it comes down to one thing.
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“Definitely, her work ethic,” Nakase said in her post-game presser. “She has been putting a lot of time with Kasib Powell, that’s who her positional coach is. So, just shoutout to Kasib. They’re building this relationship where it’s like brother-sister. You could see that they’re connected.”
“Obviously, the trust that everyone has when Kiah is spacing the floor. I mean, we’re just throwing it out, and she’s ready to shoot. So, again, credit to her teammates for finding her because that’s what she’s probably going to do… But it’s Kiah’s hard work. You know, just getting a ton of reps and then working on and seeing it go through, holding her follow-through. She has done an amazing job. She led us right in threes. Her and Janelle tied. So, that’s an incredible job.”
The numbers prove Nakase’s point. In her last 11 seasons, Stokes hasn’t even scored over 30% in a single season. Although she did boast a 50% from downtown in the 2021 season, she went just 1 of 2 from the three-point line that year.
This season, Stokes has combined that volume shooting with precise efficiency. According to ESPN, the veteran forward is shooting a stellar 37% from the three-point line, one of her best offensive performances of the season. She is second in the league in blocks per game at 2.0, and now she’s adding real spacing value to go with it.
The combination was on full display in Golden State’s recent trip to Washington.
Stokes finished with 9 rebounds and 3 blocks, her game as usual. But she also went 2-of-4 from three, making her the only Golden State starter to hit a shot from beyond the arc that night. Starters Kayla Thornton and Gabby Williams combined to shoot just 1-of 13 from the field. It was largely Golden State’s bench that kept the offense afloat in a rough shooting night for both teams. Washington shot just 30% from the field and roughly 13% from three, while the Valkyries finished around 35% overall.
Ugly shooting nights like that usually get decided somewhere else. And this one was no different.
Natalie Nakase Pinpoints Her Team’s Defensive Performance After Washington Mystics’ Performance
A 62-49 scoreline clearly shows the game wasn’t a free-flowing offensive masterclass from either team. Instead, the game was scrappy, marked by physicality and defensive effort. In that matter, the Valkyries were perfect in their approach, holding the Mystics to the lowest score this season.
Behind players like Gabby Williams, Kiah Stokes, and Laeticia Amihere, the Valkyries restricted the Mystics to just 16 points in the second half, including a 7-point Q3.
Speaking of it in the post-game presser, Natalie Nakase pointed to clear communication on the court as the key to this success.
“We’ve been talking a lot about our defense and how we have to rely on our defense every night,” Nakase said. “So, in the second half we locked in on the game plan. We didn’t do it so much in the first half because we were really talking about protecting the paint. We allowed 22 points in the first half and they take another step. They communicated.”
That defensive identity is becoming the throughline of Golden State’s season. The Valkyries currently carry one of the better defensive ratings in the league. Wins like this one, built on stops rather than shot-making, are exactly the identity Nakase has been trying to establish all year.
That identity gets tested soon again, with the Valkyries set to face a dynamic Toronto Tempo squad on the road.