Valkyries shut down the Liberty 79-60 as Cecilia Zandalasini scores 20

Cecilia Zandalasini scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half, Gabby Williams added 16 points and the Golden State Valkyries beat the New York Liberty 79-60 on Thursday night.

Golden State (28-11) improved to 3-0 against New York this season — the only team the Liberty have not beaten this season. The Valkyries held the Liberty to 70, 67 and 60 points in three games, the three lowest-scoring games of the season for New York.

New York (23-16) had scored 80-plus points in 16 straight games — the longest streak in franchise history.

Veronica Burton had a season-high 13 assists to go with eight points for Golden State, which was coming off an 89-64 victory over Connecticut on Wednesday. Tiffany Hayes had 12 points off the bench.

Jonquel Jones scored 18 points for New York, which had a six-game home winning streak halted. Breanna Stewart added 16 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Zandalasini made four 3-pointers in the first half to help Golden State build a 42-30 lead. The Valkyries started the third quarter on an 11-6 run to go ahead by 17 points, and scored the opening six points of the fourth to go ahead 65-47.

Valkyries: At Portland on Sunday.

Liberty: Host Chicago on Saturday.

___

See AP's full WNBA coverage here