Takeaways: Valkyries squander chance to lock up No. 6 seed with loss to Storm

The Valkyries had a perfect opportunity to clinch the No seed on Tuesday night against the Seattle Storm All they needed to do was win Golden State was in control for majority of the tournament but fell apart late as the expansion squad s hot shooting cooled down in the fourth quarter in a - loss on the road It s just disappointment in myself I don t think I handled the meeting schematically I thought I could do a better job Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase revealed Janelle Sala n led Golden State points Veronica Burton had points and assists in the loss Kaila Charles added points Former Stanford star Nneka Ogwumike led Seattle with points The Storm clinched their spot in the playoffs with a win and eliminated the Los Angeles Sparks from contention While they forced turnovers and held Seattle to shooting the effort wasn t good enough for the Valkyries We lost so it s not good enough if we want to go far in the playoffs if we want to be a contending organization Burton stated It s a testament to our defense but that s who we are like that s expected from us But then we should take it to the next level Golden State looked poised to break away in the third quarter taking a seven-point lead to open the second half Seattle responded with a - run of their own but a barrage of -pointers rebuilt the Valkyries advantage and pushed the visiting club s lead to eight entering the fourth quarter But as the Valkyries started to pull away again the Storm had another run in them opening the fourth quarter with a - run After trading baskets in the final minutes Golden State momentarily took a one-point lead after Iliana Rupert hit a left-wing -pointer with seconds on the clock On the next possession Storm guard Erica Wheeler hit a pull-up jumper to put Seattle up one With one last chance to tie or take the lead Sala n missed a good look at the rim and a reload stepback as the Storm iced the battle on the final possession The Valkyries led by three at halftime buoyed by first-half points from Charles Despite shooting under from the field Golden State forced nine Seattle turnovers that turned into eight points The Valkyries will end the regular season on the road against the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday Golden State will play its Event of the first round on Sunday Here are the top takeaways from Tuesday s loss Zandalasini returns After missing the last eight games sharpshooting forward Cecilia Zandalasini made her return on Tuesday Nakase declared before the encounter that she wasn t planning on playing Zandalasini heavy minutes The leading coach of the year candidate stuck to her word Zandalasini only played five minutes in the first half and went -for- from the field With a physical encounter it was perhaps a tough championship for her to come back in Nakase explained I thought she was ready I thought she did good I just think you know we maybe just didn t get her enough physical five-on-five prior to this Charles providing scoring punch Kaila Charles has been on a tear the last meager weeks Since getting inserted into the starting lineup the former University of Maryland standout has thrived in the backcourt with point guard Veronica Burton While she believes she is a defense-first athlete Charles hasn t been afraid of taking shots On Tuesday Charles hit -of- of her field goal attempts and hit all five of her free throws while taking on the assignment of guarding Storm sharpshooter Gabby Williams