Wednesday night saw the Golden State Valkyries emerge victorious over the Indiana Fever in an intense 88-75 game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis. What made this victory even more special for the California-based franchise was their all-round team performance.
While starters like Gabby Williams, Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini each touched the double-figure point mark, the substitutes too left no stone unturned.
One of the biggest talking points of the game was guard Kaitlyn Chen’s heroic second-half performance, which included a 14-point haul in a span of just 10 minutes. Chen’s on-court magic prompted her former UConn teammate and Dallas Wings’ guard Paige Bueckers to post an Instagram story of her performance with a three-word message.
“KAITLYN CHEN R U KIDDING”, Paige wrote on Instagram.
Coming off the bench, contributions from forward Janelle Salaun (12 points) and guard Tiffany Hayes (13 points) further helped the Valkyries register their 18th win of the 2026 WNBA season.
Kaitlyn Chen & Janelle Salaun Emerge As WNBA’s Highest-Scoring Bench Duo
As the Golden State Valkyries continue their ascent in both the overall and Western Conference standings, occupying the second spot in both, respectively, much of their success can be attributed to the duo of Kaitlyn Chen and Janelle Salaun.
Wednesday night’s comprehensive win over the Indiana Fever was just a continuation of what the forward-guard duo have been doing all season.
Together, Chen and Salaun currently average 20.3 points per game, which is the WNBA’s most prolific scoring bench pair so far this season. Overall, the Valkyries’ bench averages an impressive 35.7 points per game.
Having been on the road for the last five fixtures, the Valkyries are now slated to play at home as they face the Washington Mystics back-to-back on Saturday and Monday.
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