All good things must come to an end, and for the Golden State Valkyries, their historic nine-game winning streak is no more following their 90-82 setback against the Washington Mystics at Chase Center on Monday evening.
Kaitlyn Chen, who has been on an absolute heater lately, scored a career-high off the bench in the loss. She led the team with 20 points, six assists, and two rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting in 24 minutes of action.
Now, she’s drawing rave reviews from analyst and 95.7 The Game radio host Joe Shasky, who has compared her playing style to that of former Sixth Man of the Year winner Payton Pritchard.
“Kaitlyn Chen is their Payton Pritchard,” Shasky said. “She is a spark plug. She is a multi-level scorer for this team. She is like a super-sub sixth man who can close games alongside Veronica Burton.”
The Valkyries held a nine-point lead with 4:44 remaining, but went 1-for-7 from the field while committing two turnovers, allowing the Washington Mystics to rally and steal the game in the closing minutes.
Shasky noted that Chen looked like the only player willing to take control down the stretch, praising her aggressiveness in crunch time.
“And yesterday, it felt like she was the only one that wanted the ball down the stretch. And they really don’t have that mid-level scorer. For as great as Gabby [Williams] is as an athlete, she is an unbelievable athlete. She’s just not a ‘give me the ball, get out of my way’ type of player. And I thought that they got a little frenetic, threw the ball away a couple of times, took some bad shots, which to me are kind of the equivalent of live-ball turnovers. And then the Mystics came down and ran very calmly,” he added.
While Chen isn’t always flashy, she has become a big part of what makes the Valkyries such a special team this season. Although she can fly under the radar at times, much like Pritchard, she’s emerging as one of the leading candidates to watch in the WNBA Sixth Player of the Year race.
Pritchard set the standard for Boston’s guard depth, evolving from a premier sixth man – averaging 14.3 points across three starts in his Sixth Man of the Year campaign – into a key starter for the Celtics in the following year. While it remains to be seen what Kaitlyn Chen’s exact developmental path will look like, her aggressive scoring and crunch-time poise have her well on her way to earning expanded minutes and a larger role for Golden State in the coming seasons. Chen is now averaging 7.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game this season.
Kaitlyn Chen Receives High Praise From Valkyries Coach
Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase also had plenty of praise for Kaitlyn Chen, highlighting her fearless mindset and the energy she brings to the team.
“She was fearless tonight,” Nakase said. “She really wants to make her teammates better when she’s on the floor, and you can feel that energy go up a level. I think that’s what’s special about Kaitlyn. When she’s on the floor, she’s impacting her teammates.”
Since earning a standard contract, Chen’s impact has been second to none, and her teammates have stressed that time and time again.
She’s not only a fundamental part of the locker room, known for her relentless motor and positive presence, but on the court, she plays quite a few roles as a bit of a jack-of-all-trades for the Valkyries.
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