Clock issues can’t stop Valkyries in win over Caitlin Clark-less Fever

SAN FRANCISCO — Chase Center turned into a glorified night club on Sunday night. 

After electrical issues caused multiple shot clocks to malfunction, and choppy officiating gave way to numerous review stoppages, the fan cam inside the arena was put to work. 

The basketball game almost seemed like background noise as fans were asked to dance to a mix of Bay Area classics and new age pop music with each game stoppage. Both the Valkyries and the visiting Indiana Fever were both visibly frustrated by the start-stop nature of Sunday’s game that took two hours and 38 minutes to complete.

But what mattered most is that the Valkyries gave the sold out crowd of 18,064 something to dance for after the game ended.

The Valkyries won their third straight game, beating the injury-plagued Indiana Fever 75-63 behind a hot shooting start. The 158-minute game was the longest contest that ended in regulation since the Chicago Sky played the Dallas Wings in a two-hour, 41-minute game on Aug. 6, 2023, per Elias Sports Bureau. Sunday’s game had five clock stoppages in the first half. 

The Valkyries attributed the clock malfunctions to a power outage that occurred at Chase Center on Sunday morning. 

Iliana Rupert posted a career-high 21 points and hit 5-of-8 shots from the 3-point line. Rookie Janelle Salaün had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists. Veronica Burton finished with eight points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.

“I think it was the first time in all of our lives that we had so much stuff (go on), but it’s not stuff that you can control,” Rupert said after the game. “We really just tried to stay together.  The fans obviously helped a lot because you can lose energy really quickly, and they were pushing us.”

The Fever were without superstar Caitlin Clark, who missed her 18th straight game with a left groin injury. Former Valkyries guard Aerial Powers scored 17 points off the bench and Kelsey Mitchell had 14 points in the loss. 

The Valkyries held the Fever’s other star, Aliyah Boston, to just four points.

“We really tried to be physical with her and try to make the night hard,” Rupert said. “I think we did that really well. So yeah, I’m happy of the work because it was really a team effort to stop her.”

After two different clock stoppages forced a 25-minute delay in the first quarter, the Valkyries went on a run. Golden State hit seven of its eight 3-pointers and took a 25-14 lead after the first 10 minutes. 

More stoppages allowed Indiana to get back within striking distance, but Golden State kept the high-paced offense at bay. 

The Valkyries led by as much as 20 in the first half behind a 75% shooting quarter from beyond the arc. Rupert and Salaün accounted for 21 of the Valkyries’ 44 first-half points, and the home team led 44-32 after two quarters. 

With all the stoppages, the first half lasted a whopping 92 minutes but Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said the breaks in action helped the Valkyries regroup. 

“We did get to talk about defensively, continuing to focus on our game plan and our execution in terms of the defense and what was hurting us,” Nakase said. “We just tried to make it an advantage as best we can.”

Indiana made headway in the third quarter, cutting the Valkyries’ lead to seven going into the final 10 minutes. 

Powers cut the Golden State advantage to just five with a layup at the 7:37 mark of the fourth quarter, giving the Fever a much-needed momentum swing.

But just as Indiana was on the verge of cutting the lead to a single possession, Powers fouled Clark’s former Iowa teammate Kate Martin on a 3-pointer right in front of Indiana’s bench and the second-year guard swished the shot to erupt the Chase Center crowd.

Martin finished with 10 points.