The Valkyries won’t play a game that counts for two weeks, but now they’ll get to spend that time breaking down some game film while waiting for six more players to return from overseas.

There were a few things to learn from this one, even without a full roster. It was our first look at Marta Suarez and Ashlon Jackson, Kayla Thornton’s first basketball game in 283 days (shoutout Nathan Canilao for the number) and Kaitlyn Chen played like someone ready to make the team.

Here are some thoughts from the action.

Kayla Thornton is back

Thornton played 14:34, primarily in the first half, but didn’t seem to have any restrictions in her first action since her knee injury last July.

In one play in the first, she drove to the hoop and took contact and made the layup any way.

“She had no fear, and that's what I like to see,” said head coach Natalie Nakase. “She said she felt good for the game. She's confident. And so I said, let's rock and roll.”

…. so are the three-point attempts

Golden State shot 33 deep balls for 45%. Both are similar numbers to how they ended last season.

Some of their top three-point shooters in Cecilia Zandalasini and Iliana Rupert weren’t there yet, either, meaning the bulk of the production expected to be on the roster came from Burton (4-for-7) and Kate Martin (2-for-5). Every player who got into the game shot a trey except for Cate Reese.

Marta Suarez looks solid in debut

The game looked a bit fast at times for Suarez, who finished with five points, three rebounds and an assist while shooting 2-for-5. But she also had a moment where she deked her defender at the perimeter and drove to the hoop for a layup, and then hit a third-quarter three-pointer that seemed to loosen her up.

“You could just tell she just knows how to play basketball,” Nakase said. “She understands her role, and you can see that she was really comfortable. I don't think the crowd got to her at all. I thought she was really confident. She took the open shots, and you could just see she didn't miss a beat. She actually kept us going, and that was really good. She's also so vocal, and I think the vocalness helps our connectivity when we're on the floor.”

…. and Flau’jae Johnson looked dominant

Johnson’s first WNBA action happened to be against the team that traded her, and she played well with 12 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes.

Before the game, she said that she didn’t think draft night was all that confusing for her or Suarez.

“We got totalk at the draft,” Johnson said. “I'm a businesswoman. It's business, you know, like, things happen and you got to adjust. And I think just being able to adjust, it wasn't too confusing. I just walked to the back of the tunnel, and they said I was traded.”

It’s going to be easy to compare the two rookies all season, but Johnson is going to likely start in Seattle and Suarez is fighting for a roster spot. They’ll do different things, but getting the comparison right off the bat was quite the coincidence.

Kaitlyn Chen might make this team

Chen (11 points, three assists in 29 minutes) ran point most of the time that Veronica Burton wasn’t on the floor, including the entire second half.

There is not much room near the bottom of the roster, but without much guard depth, it’s starting to seem like Chen has the inside track to make the team.

“We told the players ahead of time that (Burton) wasn't going to play in the second half,” Nakase said. “So, Kaitlyn had to take the whole second half. She one time, (signaled to come out). I said, ‘nah, you're staying in there.’ But I said, I had four timeouts, so you need one, just tell me. Her ability to push through, and that's what I like to see sometimes, is when a player is really uncomfortable, how are they going to respond? And she responded.”

Then there is Miela Sowah who took over in the third quarter with four three-pointers, and likely gave herself a chance to crack a developmental roster spot somewhere.