The past week has been a historic one for the Golden State Valkyries. On Friday, they beat the Chicago Sky, 90-59, breaking the WNBA record for wins by an expansion team with 18. They also set a franchise record for largest margin of victory.
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Two days earlier, guard Veronica Burton produced the best performance in Golden State’s short existence. She recorded the first 30-point game in Valkyries history (and her pro career) and became just the third WNBA player ever to score 30 points, pull down seven rebounds, and dish out seven assists while shooting 75% from the field. The other two players to accomplish the feat are presumptive MVP Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty superstar Sabrina Ionescu.
Veronica Burton scores a career-high 30 PTS 👏
Burton becomes the 3rd player to record 30-5-5 on an expansion team 🔥 pic.twitter.com/LMZo0oPFf4
— espnW (@espnW) August 14, 2025
Burton is in the midst of a breakout season that made her ESPN’s current choice for Most Improved Player. She is averaging more points per game (11.3) than she did in her three previous seasons combined, while more than doubling her career-bests in assists (5.1) and rebounds (4.3). Of the five players averaging more than 10 points, at least five assists and more than four rebounds this season, Burton is the only one who wasn’t named an All-Star.
Drafted seventh overall by the Dallas Wings as a defensive specialist in 2022, Burton averaged 2.5 points and made 76 appearances in two years with the team. Dallas waived her right before the 2024 season began.
In one of her lowest moments, Burton turned to the two things that have helped guide her throughout her life: family and faith. Her dad, Steve, walked into her room shortly after she was waived and found her reading her Bible. He asked her how she was doing.
“I’m struggling because I don’t know where He wants me, but my faith in God is getting stronger,” she replied, according to MassLive.com.
Burton soon learned that the Lord wanted her in Connecticut. She spent the rest of the season with the Sun and made the playoffs for a third year in a row.
Golden State then selected Burton with the third pick in the expansion draft this past offseason. She became a regular starter for the first time in her career and has the Valkyries in possession of a playoff spot with less than a month left in the regular season.
Coming from a family of accomplished athletes and broadcasters, Burton was taught to outwork her competition and give God the glory.
“When it comes down to it, basketball is talked about a lot in my life, family is talked about in my life, and school, but at the end of the day, the thing that I want to talk about most, the thing that is most important to me, is my faith,” she said during an appearance on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in 2023.
It was during Burton’s college career at Northwestern that she feels like she really took ownership of her relationship with God.
“I realized that the more I centered my life around faith and my relationship with the Lord, the more steady I found myself and the more at peace I found myself,” she said on the podcast. “That’s where I saw a shift in who I was and what I really prioritized.”
Burton’s faith has only grown as she’s transitioned to the pros. She calls herself a “servant” in her Instagram bio and gave thanks to God in a post following Golden State’s first win.
View this post on Instagram
The 25-year-old knows she wouldn’t be in this position without God and wants to make sure He is the one who receives the praise.
“The one thing that I try and thank Him for every day is just the opportunities that He’s presented for me, because I’ve been able to experience a lot of great things, and things have worked out in my favor,” she said on the podcast. “And a lot of that has to do with Him and the grace that He has for me.”
The Valkyries (18-16) are the No. 7 seed heading into Tuesday’s meeting with the Phoenix Mercury (20-13). They are 1.5 games ahead of the Seattle Storm, who hold the eighth and final playoff spot.
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