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Golden State Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin was asked back in December of 2024, right after the WNBA’s first expansion draft since 2008, what the first word that came to mind was when thinking about the team she had just assembled through the process.
“Competitve.”
After picking Kate Martin, Kayla Thornton, Temi Fagbenle, and others through the process, Nyanin was clearly confident that she, alongside new head coach Natalie Nakase, had just assembled a team of players willing to defend for all 40 minutes, and willing to represent the energy of Golden State as a basketball city.
She’d end up being very right about that. 
Golden State, the first expansion team to play since the Atlanta Dream did so 17 years ago, went from <a href="https://www.wnba.com/news/2025-wnba-power-rankings-tip-off-week-edition">being considered one of the worst teams on paper </a>headed into the 2025 season to the 8 seed, set to face off with the Minnesota Lynx in the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs. They’re <a href="https://valkyries.wnba.com/news/valkyries-preview-franchises-historic-playoff-debut-embrace-underdog-mentality-20250912">the first expansion team</a> to make the postseason in their inaugural season in WNBA history. 
It’s a huge accomplishment for a squad assembled out of a pool of players other teams didn’t deem crucial enough to protect from the expansion draft, and from the remaining players on the free agency market. 
Golden State managed this by focusing on two things throughout the year, as hammered home by Nakase at the helm: defense, and chemistry. The first year head coach told reporters after the expansion draft that those were the two things she was most looking for with this brand new roster, and something that she wanted to establish as a cornerstone of the Valkyries’ culture for the year. 
“I think, like I&#8217;ve kind of just been mentioning about the characteristics, when you have players that compete every night at a high level, and like I said, if you just watch these players, all 11 players, they compete. They compete like their life depends on it. I think I have a lot of confidence with that, because to me that means that they have a great work ethic. If they&#8217;re playing that hard, that means that they have at least had to have practiced that hard,” said Nakase of what she expected from the initial roster handed to her in that draft. 
Competing is what Golden State did in 2025. They managed to topple contending teams like the New York Liberty (twice), the Las Vegas Aces, the Seattle Storm (twice), and the Atlanta Dream, and they were a top-3 defensive team with a defensive rating of 99.8 &#8211; just behind the Dream and Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx, of course, are the only above .500 team they struggled to defeat in 2025, and that’s their First Round matchup.
On the year, they averaged 77.7 points per game, shooting just 40.7 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three point range. Most of their points came in the paint, shooting 42.4 percent from that zone &#8211; good for third best in the league, and just behind the Indiana Fever and Aces. Scoring was, in short, not their strong suit. Stopping the other team from scoring was, though. Notably, they only allowed other teams to shoot 34.4 percent from the midrange against them this season, and 31.7 percent on above the break three pointers. 
Minnesota was the best above the break three point shooting team in the WNBA this year, shooting 36.9 percent on those attempts. From the midrange, they were even deadlier, shooting a second-best 40.7 from there thanks to contributions from Courtney Williams and Napheesa Collier.  Regardless of this matchup being lopsided on paper, there’s confidence oozing from a team like the Valkyries that cannot be ignored. A lot of that has to do with their chemistry and “togetherness,” something Nakase was seeking out this offseason when assembling this team with Omehaa. Their support for one another has rubbed off on their fanbase, with the Valkyries <a href="https://valkyries.wnba.com/news/valkyries-set-all-time-wnba-attendance-record-20250906">selling out every single home game they had in 2025</a>. It’s just another notch for the franchise that set out to simply win as many games as possible, and instead, broke multiple records along the way.
This postseason presents a very narrow and tough road ahead for the Valkyries. They’re still without All-Star forward Kayla Thornton for the year, Tiffany Hayes has been ruled out for Game 1 against Minnesota on the road, and they’re only now getting back a key player in Cecilia Zandalasini prior to the series. They also finished the year on a three game losing streak, with two of those losses coming against the Lynx. 
Underdog isn’t necessarily the term to describe Golden State in this series, but they’re going to need to make it a rock fight in order to get anything going against an All-Star cast featuring Collier, Kayla McBride, Alanna Smith, and others. 
Still, this is not a team to completely write off &#8211; they’ve shown that multiple times throughout their inaugural season. Minnesota has to hope they can firmly revoke Golden State’s confidence in Game 1. 
“Look, the ultimate goal here for the Golden State Valkyries and from my owner, straight from his mouth, is we would like to win a championship in five years. He said maybe even sooner. With that in mind, you have to have competitive players in order to win a championship,” said Nakase of that initial 11 player pool assembled through the draft.
2025 may not be the championship year for them, but the goal of one within the next five years, as laid out by Joe Lacob, doesn’t seem so far-fetched anymore.

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How the Golden State Valkyries Made History in Their First Year

AP Recap

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 20 points to lead five players in double figures and the Minnesota Lynx breezed to a 101-72 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round WNBA series.
Collier hit 7 of 11 shots with a 3-pointer and all five of her free throws, adding six rebounds.
Natisha Hiedeman made two 3-pointers and scored 18 for the Lynx, while Kayla McBride added 17. Jessica Shepard had 12 points and eight rebounds and Courtney Williams pitched in with 11 points and four steals.
Veronica Burton and Cecilia Zandalasini both scored 14 to lead Golden State. Burton added seven assists and three steals but also had seven of the Valkyries’ 16 turnovers. Janelle Salaün had 13 points and eight rebounds and Temi Fágbénlé scored 12 before fouling out.
Burton hit two 3-pointers for Golden State in an 11-4 run to start the game and the Valkyries led 28-21 after one quarter.
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Alanna Smith hit a 3-pointer with 8:47 left in the third quarter for a 52-42 advantage and Minnesota led by double digits the rest of the way. DiJonai Carrington sank two 3-pointers and Williams hit one in the final 70 seconds as the Lynx took a 79-58 lead into the final period.
The Valkyries are still looking for their first win over the Lynx in their first year in the league after losing all four regular-season matchups — three by double digits.
Minnesota’s 34-10 record led the league. Golden State will host Game 2 on Wednesday.
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Game Recap: Golden State Valkyries vs. Minnesota Lynx (First Round, Game 1)

First Round Game Recap

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Game Recap: Valkyries vs. Lynx (9/14/25)

Game Preview/Recap

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Game Recap: Valkyries vs. Lynx (9/11/25)

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Golden State Valkyries Top Plays vs. Seattle Storm

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Golden State Valkyries vs. Dallas Wings - Game Highlights

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Top Plays of the Day, 9/2/25

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Temi Fagbenle with 16 Points vs. New York Liberty

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Golden State Valkyries vs. New York Liberty - Game Highlights

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Golden State Valkyries Top Plays vs. Indiana Fever

Latest

Temi Fágbénlé

CAREER TRANSACTIONS
Selected by Minnesota in the 3rd round (35th overall) of the 2016 WNBA Draft.
COLLEGE
2015-16: A team captain and full-time starter, the 6-4 post player earned a spot on the prestigious All-Pac-12 Team and earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Honorable Mention selection and recorded 10 double-doubles. Led the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), rebounding (8.7 rpg), blocks (1.2 bpg), steals (1.8 spg), free throws made (93) and minutes played (30.3 mpg). 2014-15: An All-Ivy League Second Team selection in her final season at Harvard. Started in all 28 games played and averaged 14.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. Posted 13 double-doubles and ranked first in the Ivy League and 37th in the country in rebounds per game (10.1). Scored 23 points and grabbed a program record 24 rebounds against Temple. Neared a triple-double with 28 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists vs. Brown. 2013-14: An All-Ivy League First Team selection. College Sports Madness Preseason All-Ivy League First Team. Three-time Ivy League Player of the Week (November 25, January 13 and March 3). Two-time College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the Week (November 25, January 13). Named to ASU Classic and Fordham Holiday Classic All-Tournament Teams. Averaged 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game in 29 games started. Led the league in rebounding, field goal percentage (.548) and defensive rebounds (6.5). Ranked second in the Ancient Eight in blocked shots (1.4). Posted 11 double-doubles. 2012-13: An All-Ivy League Second Team honoree and Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Set Ivy League record as a 10-time Rookie of the Week winner and named to San Diego Surf &#8216;N Slam Classic All-Tournament Team. Recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 boards at North Dakota. Scored a career-high 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting along with 13 rebounds at Penn. Had a career-high four blocks against SMU. 2011-12: Sat her first year in residency at Harvard.
PERSONAL
Born Sept. 8, 1992 in Baltimore, Md.… Lived the majority of her life in London, England… Daughter of Buki and Tunde Fagbenle… Has 11 siblings, Kunle, Dokun, Banke, OT, Luti, Dapo, Tito, Pekun, Torera, Tife and Tani… Dapo played basketball at Campbell and Bellarmine… Her family now lives in Ibadan, Nigeria… Says stepping into Olympic Stadium as a member of the British Olympic Team was her most thrilling sports moment… Enjoys reading, listening to music, biking, eating Nigerian food, singing, dancing and sewing in her free time… Lists Roger Federer as her biggest sports hero… Hopes to travel to every African country… Would like to get involved with creative and artistic modeling, and hopes to pursue an acting or singing career… Received her master&#8217;s degree in strategic public relations at USC.

Temi Fágbénlé is temporarily suspended.

Temi Fágbénlé signed a Contract with the Golden State Valkyries.

The Golden State Valkyries extended a Restricted qualifying offer to Temi Fágbénlé.