The Golden State Valkyries carried a nine-game winning streak, the longest in franchise history, into Monday night against Washington Mystics team still searching for consistency. Perhaps, the basketball gods had other plans. Golden State’s streak snapped in a 90-82 defeat, despite a home crowd and a breakout night from rookie guard Kaitlyn Chen. The loss did not sit well with head coach Natalie Nakase. Asked about her biggest takeaway from the first half of the season, she turned the spotlight on herself.

 “For today, I have to do better. I have to figure out why I didn’t push their buttons correctly because we talked about it even after. We didn’t all show our best, and so I have to figure out that each individual person is different, and I have to be better,” Nakase admitted in the post-game conference. 

She doubled down on that message.  “I can’t allow people to not be at their best. I can’t allow people to not execute what the game plan was coming out of timeouts. I have to know the why.”

Nakase’s frustration came despite plenty to build on. Chen delivered the best game of her young WNBA career, scoring 20 points with six assists off the bench, both career highs. Kayla Thornton added 15 points, giving Golden State enough firepower to stay in control for long stretches.

But the game slipped away when it mattered most. Washington opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run that swung momentum in its favor. The Valkyries never fully recovered, and the Mystics closed the game with a decisive fourth-quarter surge to seal the upset. 

Looking back on the stretch, Nakase again placed the responsibility on herself rather than her players.

“I have to teach quicker, and so those are the things for me. No matter halfway or five games left before, it doesn’t matter time. I have to be better,” she said.

The season is far from over. Monday’s loss exposed areas that still need fixing but it also confirmed Golden State has another reliable scorer in Chen. As the Valkyries regroup for the second half, Nakase’s message starts with accountability at the top. The team has another factor working in its favor too.

Natalie Nakase praises the team for a significant reason

Monday’s loss snapped the streak, but it didn’t erase what Golden State had just accomplished days earlier. The Valkyries closed out a 5-0 road trip with an 88-75 win over the Indiana Fever, a stretch that covered 12 days and thousands of miles across the country. For Nakase, the biggest takeaway from that trip wasn’t the record.

WNBA insider Madisyn Cunningham shared Nakase’s comments on X, where the coach explained the value of the trip beyond the wins. “We utilized this road trip to actually bond and become…tighter knit, because when you’re on the road, you don’t really have your own schedule, right? You don’t have a car, so we do everything together. I had a ton of fun. I even said, ‘Hey, let’s stay another night!’ And they’re all like, ‘We gotta go home, coach.’…That’s when I feel like we’re building. You know, the record, eight [wins], whatever, but…we’re just getting more connected.”

Team chemistry has been one of Nakase’s most consistent talking points all season. She has repeatedly credited the group’s togetherness for helping the expansion franchise exceed expectations, and that connection may matter even more as the season moves into its decisive second half.

Golden State gets a chance to put Monday behind it when it returns from the All-Star break to host the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, July 29, at Chase Center.