SAN FRANCISCO — Kayla Thornton hit two key 3-pointers over the final 4:57 and scored 16 points to go with six rebounds, and the Golden State Valkyries rallied past Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever 88-77 on Thursday night.
Clark had 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and her layup with 4:12 remaining pulled Indiana within two points — but Golden State had an answer to each threat.
A raucous crowd roared as the Valkyries (6-6) sold out their sixth straight home game to start the season, a matchup circled on the calendar for the expansion franchise from the day the schedule was released.
Monique Billings rebounded her own missed 3 and scored with 3:24 left. Veronica Burton hit a 3 from the top of the arc with 5:49 to play helping spark the comeback then scored again in the closing minute.
Tiffany Hayes made a go-ahead layup with 8 minutes left on the way to 14 points and Chloe Bibby scored the next time down off Hayes' baseball pass to put Golden State up 64-61.
Aliyah Boston had 17 points and 12 rebounds on a night Clark struggled to find her shooting touch and finished 3 for 14 and 0 of 7 on 3s. Clark missed her initial six shots before a layup at the 4:12 mark of the second quarter.
Boston beat the halftime buzzer with a 3 to put the Fever ahead 44-38 at the break.
Golden State ran out to a 7-2 lead and Indiana called timeout then answered with an 14-0 burst as the Valkyries went 6:20 without scoring and missed 13 straight shots.
