A basket by Napheesa Collier with 36 seconds remaining and a steal and two free throws by Kayla McBride with 18 seconds remaining made it 78-72. The Valkyries missed three shots in the final 15 seconds.
“Golden State has a very strong identity. If you play defense, you give yourself a chance to win every night,” Reeve said. “Our defense was pretty solid tonight, too, on a night we had a tough shooting night. We played good defense without fouling. This was a big-time growth night for us.”
The Lynx shot 38.2% from the field (26-of-68) and 40% (12-of-30) from three-point range.
Collier contributed 20 points, Courtney Williams added 14 points and Shepard had 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Lynx, who were also without assistant coach Lindsay Whalen, as she was in Springfield, Mass., for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony for former Lynx teammates Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles.
Janelle Salaün, Rupert and Kaila Charles each scored 15 points for the Valkyries. Burton added 14 points.