Golden State outscored Phoenix 27-14 in the second quarter of Tuesday night's Valkyries vs Mercury game behind star Gabby Williams — and never looked back.
The team's 87-81 win at Chase Center pushed Golden State up the WNBA Commissioner's Cup standings, while showcasing a roster that's starting to click on both sides of the ball.
With 22 points on the night, Alyssa Thomas helped Phoenix opened strong. However, the second quarter shifted the game.
Valkyries Spark Decisive Run Before Halftime
Golden State outscored the Mercury before halftime, with forward Gabby Williams anchoring the defensive effort.
Williams's pressure disrupted Phoenix's rhythm and forced costly mistakes. The Mercury committed 16 turnovers on the night and the Valkyries converted those into 17 points.
After the break, the Mercury found their footing. Alyssa Thomas led the way alongside Monique Akoa Makani and Noemie Brochant, combining for 51 points to cut the deficit to a single point late in the fourth quarter.
But they couldn't contain the Valkyries' bench. Golden State's reserves subsequently outscored Phoenix's second unit 22-12, hitting timely shots to hold off the Mercury rally.
Where to Watch WNBA Commissioner's Cup Games This Week
The Mercury now head to Dallas to battle the Wings on Thursday at 9 PM ET, live on Prime.
The Valkyries then visit Seattle to face the Storm on Friday at 10 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.
Women's sports are once again getting the Hollywood treatment, as a new WNBA movie gets underway.
Former UConn Huskies and current Golden State standout Gabby Williams is joining WNBA champions Sydney Colson and Theresa Plaisance in an upcoming women's basketball romantic comedy called Courtside.
The project aims to bring queer representation and genuine athletic experience to the big screen.
Multi-platform media company Run-A-Muck — co-founded by actress Jennifer Beals — is developing the project. Brittani Nichols, an executive producer for the hit series Abbott Elementary, wrote the screenplay, while Carly Usdin comes on as director.
Meanwhile, Colson will pull double duty by also serving as the film's executive producer. She previously collaborated with Usdin on The Syd and TP Show, a comedy podcast also featuring Plaisance.
WNBA Stars Bring On-Court Experience to 'Courtside' Movie
The film focuses on an injury-plagued basketball superstar whose championship goals shift unexpectedly when she falls in love with her teammate.
"I don't think I've ever said yes to an opportunity faster than I did for Courtside," Colson told Deadline.
"I'm elated to see a new generation of women's sports films. I can already feel how transformative this movie will be in terms of representation on screen for minorities, queer people, and women's basketball players and fans alike."
While producers have not yet announced an official release date, the project marks a significant milestone for the WNBA's ongoing popularity surge. However, Williams and Colson aren't the only WNBA players making a splash off the court.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers is attached to star in and executive produce Apple TV's upcoming Jess & Pearl. She will headline the basketball-focused series alongside Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese.
Both projects usher in what appears to be a significant crossover era for some of league's biggest names.
One undefeated WNBA team will fall tonight, as Chicago (1-0) visits Golden State (2-0) with both squads striving to keep competitive momentum alive — and veteran Gabby Williams making her mark.
It’s the second stop on a four-game Sky road trip, after Chicago outlasted expansion side Portland 98-83 on Saturday behind flashy new additions Rickea Jackson and Skylar Diggins. The win came days after the Sky cut 2025 WNBA draft pick Hailey Van Lith, with Van Lith since joining the Connecticut Sun.
“I don’t think you can go wrong with a lot of good guards, capable guards,” coach Tyler Marsh said last week. “It’s not like we’re just stock-holding a bunch of players. It’s players that can contribute and we’re going to find ways to utilize them.”
While Chicago banks on a rebuild, the second-year Valkyries are focused on a postseason return, starting strong with wins over Seattle and Phoenix behind seasoned jack-of-all-trades Gabby Williams.
The 29-year-old French international put up 19 points, five rebounds, three assists, and four steals in Sunday’s 95-79 victory over the Mercury.
“We’re just so excited how much she’s sitting really well with us,” Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said of Williams. “Her selflessness in the way she plays — it just fits perfectly.”
Where to Watch Chicago Sky vs. Golden State Valkyries
Chicago battles Golden State at 10 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.
The WNBA released its 2025 All-Defensive Teams on Wednesday, delaying the announcement more than a week amid the fallout from the viral takedown of league leadership by Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier.
Collier herself headlines the First Team, with Lynx teammate Alanna Smith, Phoenix Mercury standout Alyssa Thomas, Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams, and the Las Vegas Aces' four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson joining the Minnesota star on the 2025 WNBA All-Defensive roster.
Second Team honors went to Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston, the Golden State Valkyries' 2025 WNBA Most Improved Player Veronica Burton, Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor, and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
The WNBA's first-ever co-Defensive Player of the Year award-winners Wilson and Smith put up leading individual stats throughout the 2025 season, with Wilson averaging a league-high 2.3 blocks along with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game while Smith averaged a team-high 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.
Collier averaged 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, contributing to Minnesota's league-best 97.5 defensive rating, while Williams tied for the second-most single-season steals with 99 — just one short of WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon's 1998 record.
In her debut year with the Mercury, Thomas became the first-ever WNBA player to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 9+ assists, and 1+ steals per game while shooting over 50% from the field.
This year's Second Team featured three first-ever selections, with Boston, Burton, and Howard all making their All-Defensive Team debuts.
The 2025 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year race ended in a tie on Thursday, as dominant seasons at both ends of the court saw Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith each receive 29 of the media panel's 72 total votes.
After finishing first this season in blocks per game (2.3), total rebounds (407), defensive rebounds (316), and combined steals and blocks (156), Wilson became just the fourth player in WNBA history named Defensive Player of the Year at least three times — adding this year's title to her previous 2022 and 2023 honors.
As for Smith, who picked up the award for the first time this year, the Lynx star ranked second overall in combined steals and blocks (135), third in both blocks per game (1.9) and total blocks (80), and tied for 10th in total steals (55) on the season.
Also snagging votes were Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams, who came in second with nine votes, as well as Phoenix Mercury triple-double phenom Alyssa Thomas and fellow Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who received three and two votes, respectively.
The win by both Wilson and Smith marks the first time in history that the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year honor has ended in a tie, reflecting both the top-notch level of talent on display across the league as well as the hyper-competitive nature of the 2025 end-of-year awards race on display across multiple categories.
Next up on the league's awards docket is Saturday's Sixth Player of the Year announcement, followed by the highly anticipated reveal of the 2025 WNBA MVP on Sunday.
Congress members are speaking up for the WNBPA amid the union's ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations, with 85 lawmakers from the Democratic Women's Caucus and the House Democratic Caucus sending an open letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Tuesday demanding that the league "bargain in good faith to reach a fair CBA in a timely manner before the October 31 deadline."
Citing concerns "about the WNBA's delayed response, the differing accounts on the status of negotiations, and.. the needs of players," the letter vehemently voices support for the Players Association as temperatures rise in the tense CBA negotiations.
The league and the WNBPA have struggled to find common ground, with both parties forced to consider filing an extension in the coming weeks.
"WNBA players receive no shared revenue under the current CBA," the Congress members explained in their letter. "This is drastic in comparison with other major professional sports leagues: National Basketball Association players receive 49 to 51%, National Football League players receive at least 48.8%, and National Hockey League players receive 50% of their respective shared revenues."
Players are also speaking out, with Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams recently telling CBS Sports, "The WNBA isn't enticing enough as far as money goes in order to keep us out of the other leagues."
The 2025 WNBA All-Star teams are set, as captains Napheesa Collier and Caitlin Clark drafted the 20 other honored players into their final rosters live on ESPN on Tuesday night.
The draft began with the two captains selecting from the eight-player pool of fan-voted starters, before Clark and Collier each chose six athletes from the group of 12 All-Star reserves.
Both the Minnesota forward and the Indiana guard prioritized selecting their WNBA teammates, with Collier successfully grabbing Lynx guard Courtney Williams as one of her reserves while Clark's first picks in each category were fellow Fever players in starter Aliyah Boston and reserve player Kelsey Mitchell.
Collier also decided to keep her fellow UConn Huskies close, tapping alums Breanna Stewart and Paige Bueckers for her starting lineup — though she failed to pull off a trade for third alum Gabby Williams.
"I tried 😭 they didn't show that part lol," the Lynx star posted to X after the draft, referencing her attempt to roster Williams.
While Collier's strategy was to snag current and former teammates, as well as players with whom she has Unrivaled or collegiate ties, Clark approached the draft with less of a plan.
"I'm going on vibes. I'm picking whatever comes to mind. We're just having fun," joked Clark, promising "my team is going to be fun."
All-Star draft's lone trade sees head coach swap
Despite a handful of trade offers, the only swap of the Tuesday draft didn't end up involving players at all, as the All-Star leaders agreed to switch head coaches.
Coaching assignments follow fan votes and team records, with the top All-Star vote-getter paired with the coach of the league's No. 1 team, while the No. 2 team coach leads the squad captained by the player who garnered the second-most votes.
As such, Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve was initially assigned to Team Clark, with Collier's squad led by New York boss Sandy Brondello.
Following both Collier's strategy of prior connections and, perhaps, Clark's emphasis on vibes, the pair agreed to switch sideline leaders, keeping the Lynx lineup together and sending the reigning WNBA champion to helm Clark's crew.
The 2025 WNBA All-Star Game rosters
Team Clark:
- Starters: Aliyah Boston (Indiana), Sabrina Ionescu (New York), A'ja Wilson (Las Vegas), Satou Sabally (Phoenix)
- Reserves: Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana), Gabby Williams (Seattle), Sonia Citron (Washington), Kiki Iriafen (Washington), Jackie Young (Las Vegas), Kayla Thornton (Golden State)
- Head coach: Sandy Brondello (New York)
Team Collier:
- Starters: Breanna Stewart (New York), Allisha Gray (Atlanta), Nneka Ogwumike (Seattle), Paige Bueckers (Dallas)
- Reserves: Courtney Williams (Minnesota), Skylar Diggins (Seattle), Angel Reese (Chicago), Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix), Kelsey Plum (LA), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta)
- Head coach: Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota)
How to watch the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game
Team Collier and Team Clark will square off in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis at 8:30 PM ET on July 19th.
Live coverage of the game will air on ABC.
The 2025 All-Star Game draft pool is complete, as the WNBA dropped the 12-player reserves list on Sunday to round out the group of 22 league standouts who'll battle in Indianapolis later this month.
Washington rookie phenoms Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen received their first career nods, making the Mystics the first WNBA team in 26 years to see two league debutants become All-Stars.
The Washington duo aren't the only first-timers to make Sunday's All-Star cut, with both Seattle's Gabby Williams and Golden State's Kayla Thornton earning spots on the 2025 reserves list.
All-Star captains Napheesa Collier (Minnesota) and Caitlin Clark (Indiana) will also now have access to Skylar Diggins (Seattle), Rhyne Howard (Atlanta), Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana), Kelsey Plum (LA), Angel Reese (Chicago), Alyssa Thomas (Phoenix), Courtney Williams (Minnesota), and Jackie Young (Las Vegas) alongside the previously announced starters to build out their teams.
Coaches catch heat for All-Star decisions
While a mix of fans, players, and media members vote to determine the All-Star Game starters, WNBA head coaches choose the reserves — and some players weren't exactly happy with this year's outcome.
"Whatever about me…. But taking 2, and NOT including the best player from a below 500 team is crazy," LA forward Dearica Hamby posted on Sunday, blasting the coaches for not including Mystics guard Brittney Sykes.
"I don't know why only [Collier] and [Williams] are All-Stars when you have the best team in the league by a few games," Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve, whose Lynx currently lead the WNBA by a large 4.5-game margin, told reporters. "There are teams that are below us in the standings by a lot that have three All-Stars."
Reeve is referencing No. 4 Seattle and No. 7 Indiana, who lead the charge with a trio of All-Stars each.
While six teams, including Minnesota, each boast two players in the pool, four — Chicago, Dallas, Golden State, and LA — will be repped by one player at the 2025 All-Star Game.
With just two wins on the season, the last-place Connecticut Sun is the only WNBA team to not field an All-Star this year.
How to watch the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game draft
Clark and Collier will draft their 2025 WNBA All-Star Game teams during Tuesday's broadcast of WNBA Countdown, airing at 7 PM ET on ESPN.
The biggest victors in the WNBA last weekend were the Seattle Storm, as the fifth-place contenders took down the last two league champions to record six wins in their last seven games.
The Storm first took down 2022 and 2023 champs Las Vegas 90-83 on Friday before toppling reigning title-winners New York 89-79 on Sunday.
Guard Skylar Diggins and forward Nneka Ogwumike powered Seattle's two games, putting up 44 and 51 points, respectively, over the weekend.
Forward Gabby Williams also helped fuel the Storm's weekend with two double-double performances.
Seattle is now just one game behind the similarly surging fourth-place Atlanta Dream, while trailing the red-hot No. 3 Phoenix Mercury by 1.5 games.
"Staying ready is what the group is," Storm head coach Noelle Quinn told reporters on Friday. "They're professionals, they're vets."
Teams at the top of the WNBA standings aren't the only squads that saw weekend success, as the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries snagged their second win in a row with Sunday's 87-63 thrashing of the last-place Connecticut Sun.
Despite registering Friday losses, both No. 7 Las Vegas and the No. 9 Washington Mystics finished the weekend on a high note, earning big Sunday wins over the No. 8 Indiana Fever and No. 12 Dallas Wings, respectively.
How to watch the Seattle Storm this week
The Storm will suit back up for another tricky WNBA test on Tuesday, when Seattle hosts the always-dangerous Indiana Fever at 10 PM ET.
The game will air live on NBA TV.
Dallas rookie Paige Bueckers took charge on Monday, with the 2025 WNBA Draft's No. 1 overall pick proving her worth in the Wings' 79-71 loss to Seattle.
The only Wing to log more than 29 minutes in Monday night's home-opener, Bueckers spent 37 minutes on the Dallas court, tallying a team-leading 19 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and two steals in just her second pro game.
She also joined Mystics newcomer Sonia Citron as the only 2025 rookies to score more than 18 points in a single game so far this season.
On the flip side, 2025's No. 2 pick Dominique Malonga did not feature in the Storm's starting lineup, finishing her night with just one minute of playing time.
The 19-year-old French phenom made the most of her brief appearance with a speedy two points, despite Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn taking a conservative approach to integrating the WNBA's youngest player into the league.
While rookies make headlines, veterans still run the WNBA, with Quinn relying heavily on her experienced starting core to notch Seattle's first victory of 2025.
Leading the Storm was 2016 MVP Nneka Ogwumike with a 23-point, 18-rebound performance — her 110th career double-double — while Skylar Diggins (21 points, nine assists) and Gabby Williams (17 points, five assists, five rebounds) followed closely behind.
"I love how our vets showed up and willed us through possessions," Quinn said after the win. "I think that there's a lot to build and grow from this game."
How to watch WNBA games on Tuesday
The 2025 WNBA season continues at 7 PM ET on Tuesday, when the Atlanta Dream take on the Indiana Fever while the Las Vegas Aces visit the Connecticut Sun.
Both game will stream live on WNBA League Pass.