SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kayla Thornton had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Veronica Burton and Monique Billings also had double-doubles and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Las Vegas Aces 95-68 on Saturday to snap a four-game losing streak.
Burton added 14 points, a career-high 12 assists and seven rebounds, while Billings finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Cecilia Zandalasini scored a career-high 18 points for Golden State and Kate Martin had 12 for the expansion Valkyries, who set a franchise record for points in a game.
Thornton found Martin for a layup with a minute left in the first quarter to give the Valkyries the lead for good and Thornton’s 3-pointer with 3:47 remaining in the second made it 31-21. Las Vegas trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
A’ja Wilson scored 17 for Las Vegas (4-3) and Chelsea Gray had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Rookie Aaliyah Nye hit three 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 13 points, her second consecutive game in double figures.
FEVER 70, SKY 52
CHICAGO (AP) — Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 points, Natasha Howard added 13 and Indiana never trailed as the Fever beat Chicago.
Indiana (4-4), which beat Washington 85-76 last time out to snap a three-game skid, have won back-to-back games and are 2-2 without injured star Caitlin Clark.
Angel Reese grabbed 12 rebounds and finished with four points on 2-of-7 shooting for the Sky (2-5). Kamilla Cardoso and Rebecca Allen scored eight points apiece.
Aari McDonald, who hit three 3-pointers, finished with 12 points and three steals for the Fever. Aliyah Boston had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
STORM 89, MERCURY 77
PHOENIX (AP) — Skylar Diggins scored 22 of her 26 points in the second half, Gabby Williams hit a career-high five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points and Seattle beat Phoenix.
Diggins missed her first seven field-goal attempts but scored 12 in the third quarter and 10 more in the fourth. Her 3-pointer as the shot clock expired gave Seattle an eight-point lead with less than five minutes to play before she hit a jumper and another 3 that made it 84-72 with 2:27 left.
Williams made 8 of 10 from the field and had a season-high seven assists. Nneka Ogwumike added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Storm (5-4).
Satou Sabally led Phoenix (6-4) with 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Lexi Held added 14 points.
Golden State Valkyries center Temi Fagbenle (14) and guard Veronica Burton (22) defend against Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson in the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
ADELBODEN, Switzerland (AP) — The big surprise of the World Cup slalom season scored his second win Sunday adding to his fast-rising reputation before the Winter Olympics.
Paco Rassat raced to the fastest time in the second run to rise from fourth place, and push two Norwegians down the podium steps after they had been fastest in the morning run.
United States-born Atle Lie McGrath was edged out by 0.18 seconds and first-run leader Henrik Kristoffersen dropped to third, trailing 0.20 behind Rassat.
The 27-year-old Frenchman had a career-best result of ninth in World Cup races before this Olympic season started.
Rassat now has two wins, a third place and two sixth places this season and shapes as a medal contender for the Milano Cortina Olympics. The men’s slalom is on Feb. 16 at Bormio.
“To win on this crazy hill at Adelboden, It’s something really unbelievable," Rassat told Swiss broadcaster RTS, describing his season as “a magnificent surprise.”
Rassat also took the lead in the seasonlong World Cup slalom standings, ahead of his France teammate Clément Noël, the defending Olympic champion. Noël tied for eighth Sunday.
McGrath was runner-up in the Adelboden slalom for the third time in four years.
“It’s kind of crazy,” said McGrath, whose father Felix skied for the U.S. at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. “I’m of course super happy, it’s such a challenging slope and mentally it’s one of the toughest places to perform because of this amazing crowd.”
Another packed finish-area crowd at Adelboden observed a minute’s silence before racing for the victims of the fatal fire in a bar in nearby Crans-Montana on New Year’s Day. Crans-Montana hosts men’s and women’s World Cup races in three weeks’ time.
The World Cup overall standings leader, four-time title holder Marco Odermatt, does not ski slalom and his huge lead was cut a little by Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who placed fourth. Pinheiro Braathen was second to Odermatt in the classic giant slalom Saturday.
The men’s World Cup circuit stays in central Switzerland for the storied Lauberhorn meeting at Wengen, for a super-G on Friday, the classic downhill Saturday and a slalom Sunday.
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath reacts at the finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen reacts at the finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
France's Paco Rassat speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
France's Paco Rassat reacts at the finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Finland's Eduard Hallberg speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Norway's Atle Lie McGrath speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen ahead of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Adelboden, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
