The first BAY AREA fan podcast exclusively dedicated to the Golden State Valkyries:
“VaLKYRIES, SAY LESS!”
-Hosted by Vanessa Hutchinson-Szekely & Raina Mast-
(KT made this video for Raina and Vanessa!!!!)
LINKS TO WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS:
WELCOME TO SEASON 2 of the Valks!
And our podcast!
The WNBA found a way to PAY THE PLAYERS and here we are! Game on!
The Valks just returned from an away winning spree, surprising some, but not us. And Ballhalla was back for the Mystics and will take a rest for All-Star Weekend (although we know some Ballhalla will be in Chicago to cheer on Gabby!)
Season 2 is mid-swing and every game is something new! Here’s our article on the most recent advances in community happiness and our most recent episode on Justė Jocytė.
The 2026 Valks seem set and healthy with a deep bench (well, as deep as can be with the W’s small roster limit of 12 +2 developmental players). Burton, Williams and Salaün are averaging double digits and it seems like each game has someone different shining, for example, Kaitlyn Chen just had a career high of 20pts against the Mystics! Our vets TIP and KT are holding it down, Zandalasini is back as our starting big, Charles has gotten us to our feet in ovation, and Stokes is a turning out to be a wonderful addition as a defense and rebounding queen. Coach Nakase has declared Defense as our identity and has been sparingly using our blocking queen Amihere and our newly arrived “Baby Faced Assassin” Justé Joycté.
During All-Star break, catch up on the backstories of our amazing Valks:
ROSTER IS FULL! (AND HEALTHY)
ROSTER IS FULL! (AND HEALTHY)
Season 2!
2026 Roster Playlist
Here’s Raina and Vanessa’s helpful organization of the Valks’ 2026 roster!
Definitely not losing COACH OF THE YEAR Natalie Nakase!
Coach Nat arrived with a vision and she’s not done yet! We can’t wait to see what her crazy BB IQ has in store for us with our #8 NCAA draft pick and who we are protecting in the expansion draft! Listen to episode 2!
We protected our “MIPOY”: VB
Burton was voted The Most Improved Player in the League for 2026, making the classic transition from trusty 6th man on prior teams to our fearless leader, starting every game and averaging 12 ppg. As an RFA (Restricted Free Agent), she was our first big signing of this crazy free agency season. Multi-year baby!
ALL-star Kayla thorNton ON THE MEND!
KT was an UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent), so we feared we’d lose her to good money elsewhere. But we got her! She was injured much of last season and didn’t get to play in the playoffs, our beloved #5 is all healed up and ready to get back to big points and big joy on the court.
CECE è en la casa
Cece Zandalsini was our other RFA. She seems like one of Coach Nat’s (and Raina’s) favorites, so we were womanifesting her as a season 2 Valk. Cece signed a one-year contract and is on the rise. In Puerto Rico for the FIBA World Cup qualifying tournament, she was the leading scorer (22pts) to clinch a spot in the World Cup for Italy!
Janelle SalaüN: LET’S GOOOOOOOO!
We are thrilled Janelle signed a multi-year contract. She is young and growing like crazy— was MVP in the World Cup qualifying tournament this past winter, and clinched France’s tickets to Berlin in September! A key Valk as we look to build a dynasty. And those tunnel fits! BONUS: Check out our interview in French with Ja!
ValKairies
Kaila Charles flew in from Dallas last August late in the season on a hardship contract when too many of our Valks were injured. She stepped up, starting 8 games (played in 18 total) and was a leading scorer in our final playoff game with 15 points (Ili had 15 as well). This year, Kai has been stepping up off the bench
WELCOME Gabby WILLIAMS!
Rumors were flying after Gabby announced she was leaving the Storm. We were getting nervous she was going to the Aces (W Champions last year), but low and behold, she signed a multi-year contract to the Valkyries and officially seals the deal on the trifecta of SAN-FRANCE-CISCO with Ili and Janelle. (Gabby is binational, franco-américain and played for France in the 2021 and 2024 Olympics). For the gays!!!!
Kiah Stokes: defense and boards
Another logical choice for Coach Nat! Veteran center Kiah was Aces since 2021, so got to work with Coach Nakase in Vegas when she was coaching there before the Valks. We need height and Coach knows and loves (maybe helped create) the Aces’s system, so this is our 3rd ex-Ace (plus Kate Martin, Tiffany Hayes). Kiah arrives with 3 championship rings. Let’s get another!
TIP CAME HOME!
Tiffany Hayes had us holding our breath. As an UFA, her agent must have been busy negotiating while she rested up after a stellar performance for the Phantom in Unrivaled, worked her fashion in Phoenix, toured Greece, and was busy trolling Raina with photos of 6 Flags in “adventure mode” while the other players arrived for training camp. But she teleported back to the Bay and announced her re-signing 4/18. Welcome back Tip!
L.A. is official!
The Bay lost its mind when Laeticia Amihere was waived after an amazing 20 point preseason game. And we were so relieved when she was pulled back to the Valks June 15th. She’s gotten some real minutes as a much needed big and we LOVE watching her blocks—3 against the Mercury 5/10, along with 13 pts, 5 assists, and 6 boards!
KaitlYn Chen IS THRIVING!
Our Kaitlyn is also a Bay Area fan favorite who was waived and brought back on a training camp contract. Chen didn’t see a lot of minutes in her first W 2025 season. But this season, she is coming off the bench hot, with a career high of 20 pts against the Mystics, and always pretending she’s not 5’9”with a crazy wing span and feisty defense, which makes her prime Nakase material. Could another Valk get MIPOY this year?
Justė Joyctė: Staying Game Ready
Justė was our first round draft pick last year, but she spent the year (a great year!) building skills in Europe on Girona. She’s 2x Linthuanian Basketball Player of the Year and has already been nicknamed the “Baby-Faced Assassin” and has seen some minutes this season, scoring her first shot for the Valks off a pass, having never dribbled in a W game. Coach Nat has her watching tape and playing point in the post-practice “stay ready” scrimmages. Check out our youtube episode to see footage!
Nadia Fingall: Episode Coming Soon!
With Iliana Rupert out, the Valks are in need of some size in the front court. 6’4” Standford center Nadia Fingall has been playing in Spain since 2021, helping her team Zaragoza take 3rd in Eurocup in April with our beloved ex-Valk Carla Leite. She has only seen a few minutes so far this season, but we look forward to her fortifying our defense under the basket!
Nadia Fingall coming soon!
IlI’s not silly (Out for pregnancy)
Our center Iliana Rupert is not only our essential “big”, but one of the most efficient 3-point shooters in the league/world. This past winter she was a finalist for MVP of the Euroleague, averaging 16 points a game and a career high of 34 points against Avenida. She’s what Coach Nat looks for: versatility, consistency, and big girls shooting 3s. We will miss her while she focuses on her pregnancy.
2026 Valks Developmentals
As part of the 2026 CBA, the W did not increase official roster limit of 12, but added two developmental spots. In a compressed schedule with small rosters, injuries have been a problem, so this may alleviate the process of integrating hardship contract players midseason. It also gives hope for a true developmental league (see Upshot and Premiere leagues as a move in the right direction!)
Mielah sowah signed to development contract 5/6
〰️
Mielah sowah signed to development contract 5/6 〰️
Miela Sowah episode coming soon!
Ashten Prechtel (waived by Mercury ) signed to development Contract 5/21
〰️
Ashten Prechtel (waived by Mercury ) signed to development Contract 5/21 〰️
Ashten Pretchel episode coming soon!
WHAT IS A Developmental player?, You ask!?
Developmental players:
attend practice and are on the roster for 12 games
are paid $6,000 per game and $450 pero week+ benefits and housing.
The Roster feels pretty complete! *
*(But brace yourselves: trades can happen until August 2nd!)
2026 training camp (keep an eye on these players for future hardship/training camps):
From the 2026 WNBA Draft:
WAIVED 5/2: Marta Suarez (Forward, Texas Christian University) Signed devo with Mercury
Waived 5/2: Ashlon Jackson (Guard, Duke)
Playing internationally and did not report: Kokoro Tanaka (Guard, Japan)
From ELSEWHERe:
waived 6/7 after coming back for hardship :Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (Guard, VanderBilt)
waived: 5/2 Mariella Fasoula (center, Greece)
waived 5/2 Miela Sowah, But signed 5/6! (guard, Austrailia),
waived 5/2 Cate Reese (forward, Arizona/Belgium League)
waived 4/28 Caroline Ducharme (guard, UCONN 2026
Waived 4/21 : Bailey Maupin ¡Thank you!
Fare Thee Well our Bright Stars:
the following players were founding valks in their inaugural 2025 season as the first expansion team in the w in 17 years! We hold a special place for them in our violet hearts.
Saying goodbye to our Glue Kate Martin
Kate was our beloved fan favorite enigma of awkward joyful hard work. Right before the first offical game, she was waived and we held our breath that she’d be signed as our second developmental player. According to Kate, there was talk of this in the negotiations, but the final decision was made to go to LA on a developmental contract for the Sparks. She has good history with Coach Nat (drafted by the Aces when Coach Nat was there), so this one was a hard surprise. Many #20 jerseys were seen at Ballhalla this weekend. She will be missed.
Au revoir Carla LEITE :(
Alas, our number 0 was taken to the Fire in the 2026 expansion draft. Our hearts broke and we will miss her crazy passes and diving into bleachers. She’s young and maturing as a point guard and we can’t wait to see what she does out there for the Portland Fire. (So far, she’s lighting it up!) Check out our bonus interview with her in French!
NO MO
Mo Billings was an unrestricted free agent so got to “shop around.” And we are so happy for her taking the offer for well-deserved big money to move to Indiana—$1.6 million for 2 years! We wish this veteran well as she continues her long career on her 5th team in the WNBA after one year with the Valks in 2025.
TEMI TO TORONTO
This most recent news of free agency hit hard after learning of Mo and Carla. Temi Fagbenle brought grace to the court and style to the tunnels in 2025. We are happy for her getting big money at Toronto ($1 million for one year contract) and will keep an eye on her as she shines big out there.
Flau’Jae not here to stay
Although she was only a Valkyrie for 8 minutes, it was such a dramatic event, that Flau’jae Johnson needs to be mentioned here. It was exciting to have such a strong and charasmatic edition to the roster, but Johnson was traded to the Storm due to a pre-arranged agreement the Valks made to get Suarez plus an extra 2028 draft pick. Our GM Nyanin and Coach Nakase are people of their word and we are excited to see what Marta Suarez brings as the pre-planned strategy. (Video taken by Raina Mast at Rikki’s the moment pick was announced.)