Janelle Salaun, Valkyries blow past Sun

Janelle Salaun sank four 3-pointers to highlight her 15-point performance, lifting the Golden State Valkyries to a convincing 89-64 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday in Uncasville, Conn.

Kaila Charles collected 14 points and eight rebounds for the Valkyries (27-11), who saw 14 players log minutes en route to finishing off a three-game season sweep of Connecticut.

Second-place Golden State moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Las Vegas Aces (26-13).

Veronica Burton recorded 12 points and seven assists and Kaitlyn Chen added 10 points for the Valkyries, who shot a robust 54% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range. The Sun, in turn, shot 31% and 19.4%, respectively.

Golden State also dominated on the interior, holding a 42-30 advantage in rebounds and 42-28 edge in points in the paint.

Connecticut rookie Charlisse Leger-Walker scored a season-high 17 points and Nell Angloma added 11 off the bench.

Aaliyah Edwards scored eight points, one day after recording a career-high 26 in an 87-81 victory over the Chicago Sky.

The Sun (10-28) played without Brittney Griner for the sixth consecutive contest and Olivia Nelson-Ododa for the second time in as many games due to their respective knee injuries.

Edwards made a layup to trim Golden State's lead to 8-7 midway through the first before the Valkyries ignited an 18-4 run to end the quarter. Burton and Salaun each drained a 3-pointer during that sequence.

Connecticut trimmed its deficit to 14 points at 41-27 before Golden State ignited a 14-0 run to end the second quarter. Cecilia Zandalasini scored seven straight points before Kiah Stokes added five and Gabby Williams added a driving layup.

The teams split 50 points equally in the third quarter before Golden State scored the first seven in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

--Field Level Media