{"id":126526,"date":"2025-08-07T14:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/126526\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T14:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:19:11","slug":"valkyries-coach-natalie-nakase-rips-referees-again-following-loss-to-aces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/126526\/","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase rips referees again following loss to Aces"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s been one thing that Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase<\/a> has been consistent with this year, it\u2019s her criticism of the league\u2019s officiating.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following the Valkyries\u2019 78-72 loss to the Las Vegas Aces<\/a> on Wednesday, the first-year coach ripped the game\u2019s officials for their lack of consistency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game ended up coming down to six points, and in terms of free throws, it also matters when they\u2019re being called,\u201d Nakase said after the game. \u201cIf the Aces are shooting 16% in the fourth quarter and then they\u2019re getting five more free throws, that\u2019s very convenient. We got to be consistent. The calls have to be consistent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Jackie Young is shooting a jumper and we touch her, that\u2019s fine. But if Carla Leite shoots a jumper and she gets touched by Jewell Loyd, you got to tell me what the reason is. It was the same shot, and the consistency of the calls are not the same. So again, what can I do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Valkyries'Valkyries’ Carla Leite (0) stands on the court during a game against The Las Vegas Aces in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase has made a habit of criticizing the league\u2019s officiating, especially after losses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a loss to the Phoenix Mercury<\/a> on July 14, Nakase ripped officials after the Valkyries lost on a late free throw. When the Valkyries lost to the Atlanta Dream<\/a> on July 7, Nakase blamed the defeat partially on the fourth quarter free throw discrepancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries game against the Aces got choppy throughout the second half as multiple calls were reviewed and challenged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the teams tied at 48 in the third quarter, guard Tiffany Hayes was fouled on a drive to the basket. She flipped in a wild shot, but the officiating crew decided there was no continuation and the call was made on the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Minutes later, point guard Veronica Burton was assessed a flagrant 1 foul in the third quarter after she inadvertently elbowed Aces guard Chelsea Gray. Nakase was visibly upset about the call and chants of \u201cRefs you suck,\u201d reverberated throughout the arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Later in the quarter, referees called a shooting foul on Hayes as Young made a 3-pointer. The call was ultimately reversed after Nakase challenged the play, but Golden State lost their lone challenge of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase said the choppiness of the second half did not affect the team, but attributed what she believed as blown calls to be momentum killers for her team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing a good job playing defense. It\u2019s just tough when they\u2019re going to the freaking line,\u201d Nakase said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Aces made 19 of their 25 for the game. Golden State had the free throw advantage until the fourth quarter when Las Vegas shot 14 in the final 10 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Valkyries'Valkyries’ Iliana Rupert (12) takes a shot against The Las Vegas Aces’ NaLyssa Smith (3) in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the officiating was not the reason the Valkyries lost the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Golden State shot an abysmal 18.2% from the 3-point line and had a season-low nine assists. Aces\u2019 superstar A\u2019ja Wilson exploded for 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing was to play defense tonight and we didn\u2019t,\u201d forward Janelle Sala\u00fcn said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t rebound the ball. And that was the most important thing. Whether our shots fall or not, we have to be consistent on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valkyries dropped to a game below .500 with the loss. Saturday\u2019s game against the Los Angeles Sparks will have major tiebreaker implications as the SoCal team is a half game back of the Valkyries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase said Wednesday\u2019s game could be a learning experience for her team going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the frustration happens, it means they actually love what they do,\u201d Nakase said of her team. \u201cI want them to feel that pain, the frustration, however it is. It could be sadness, it could be disappointment. Good. Feel it. But then in two days, we got to play LA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Valkyries'Valkyries’ Carla Leite (0) takes a shot against The Las Vegas Aces’ NaLyssa Smith (3) and The Las Vegas Aces’ Aaliyah Nye (13) in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If there\u2019s been one thing that Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase has been consistent with this year, it\u2019s her…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1339,15173,276,2473,1362,1370,15178,2750,15180,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-126526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","12":"tag-inside-sports","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-peninsula","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-san-francisco-county","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114987923481629212","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}