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!
WE MADE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS! We are thumbing our noses to all those that predicted a second year slump!
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 our newest player Aminata Gueye who arrived to the Valks on September 20th.
The 2026 Valks have proved a deep, healthy bench (well, as deep as can be with the W’s small roster limit of 12 +2 developmental players). Coach Nakase’s season 2 mantra has been defense as their identity and she is consistent with her expectation that a player “empty the tank” to give it all in short burst and take break with the deep bench. 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.
As the playoffs are underway, study up on our players’ bios in our episodes below:
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 2025 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!
2025 “MIPOY”: VERONICA BURTON
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!
2025 ALL-star Kayla thorNton
KT was an UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent) for 2026, 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 played amazingly for Italy at the 2026 World Cup and Coach is talking about taking Cece to the her next level after witnessing. Cece is our beloved big who broke our hearts as she crumbled to the floor after missing the shot that ended our playoff run last year, so she is playing hungry this playoff season.
Janelle SalaüN: LET’S GOOOOOOOO!
Janelle Salaũn is a young, quiet Frenchie who signed a multi-year contract. She is growing like crazy— made the 3 point shoot out All-Star Weekend and was MVP in the World Cup qualifying tournament this past winter, Ja is a key Valk as we look to build a dynasty and it has been a pleasure getting to know her in her native language— BONUS: Check out our one-on-one interview in French with her!
ValKairies
Kaila Charles flew in from Dallas August 2025 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 with boards and passionate defense.
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, 2024 Olympics and 2026 World Cup). “For the gays!!!!”
Kiah Stokes: defense and boards
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 her another for 2026!
TIP CAME HOME!
Tiffany Hayes had us holding our breath as a UFA traveling the world and signing later than other players. After healing from injury 2025, she had a stellar performance for the Phantom in Unrivaled and has managed to remain healthy despite her relentless defense and face first driving down the lane. Coach Nakase said Tip has spoken a championship into existence this year. Tip is hungry and believes the team is ready.
L.A. is official!
The Bay lost its mind when Laeticia Amihere was waived after an amazing 20 point preseason game in 2025. And we were so relieved when she was pulled back to the Valks. She’s gotten some real minutes as a much needed big and we LOVE watching her blocks. She’s averaging 11 minutes and 4 points per game and has become a joyful part of our bench celebrations this year.
KaitlYn Chen IS THRIVING!
Our Kaitlyn is also a Bay Area fan favorite who was waived and brought back on a training camp contract in 2025. 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, feisty defense, and ability to finish drives, which makes her prime Nakase material.
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!
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.
AminatA Gueye
What’s crazy is that we could not schedule to record our episode on Nadia Fingall due to family and work confilicts and then Fingall was waived and the Valks picked up Aminata. Gueye (pronounced gay-ee) comes to us with experience playing big in Europe, most recently on the French national team with Gabby and Janelle (and former Valk Carla Leite) and she’s already seen playing time this season!
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!)
Miela Sowah episode coming soon!
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.
LOOKING BACK AT How this 2026 was built:
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 (Except for JapAnesE Heritage night to bang the DRUM!!!): 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
Waived 9/20: Nadia Fingall
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.)