Photo by Zoe Malen
The following story ran in collaboration with Mission Local on August 26, 2026.
This story is in partnership with MissionLocal.org, an award-winning non-profit San Francisco newsroom. Valkyries Beat has partnered with Mission Local and will continue to co-publish stories weekly.
With just a month to go before the postseason, the second-place Golden State Valkyries finally defeated the first-place Minnesota Lynx on Monday night. It was the first time this season, and the first time in franchise history in 10 matchups between the two teams.
A big reason why was their starting point guard: Veronica Burton
Burton had 14 points, nine assists and tied a career-high with five steals in the 80-66 win.
“V was elite tonight. On top of that, she made all the calls, ” head coach Natalie Nakase said after the game. “We just kind of let V run the show.”
Burton had only started 14 games in her WNBA career prior to joining the Valkyries and certainly wasn’t the engine of an offense in her previous stops with the Dallas Wings and Connecticut Sun. She was known as a defensive specialist off the bench in Dallas and Connecticut. When she joined the Valkyries, she was assigned a new role as the team’s starting point guard and de facto leader.
“She's always gonna play hard, whether it's on defense, on offense,” forward Kaila Charles said of her teammate. “Seeing her step up into this more of a leadership or vocal role, it's just amazing to see.”
That kind of leadership doesn’t always show up in the stat sheet, Charles pointed out. But Burton’s offensive success is right there in the numbers. And this season, her numbers are better than ever.
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