The expansion Golden State Valkyries took the defending champion New York Liberty down to the final seconds on Wednesday night, eventually falling 81-78.
The reason the Valkyries were so close? Kate Martin had a career night.
The former Iowa teammate of Caitlin Clark was hooping throughout the tough matchup.
Martin finished with 21 points and four made 3-pointers, both career highs.
She entered the night averaging 5.5 points per game and shooting just 29% from 3-point range, so this was an outlier.
It's the kind of outing the 25-year old might need to find a way to build her confidence and also to help her stick in the WNBA long term.
Martin was a second-round pick by the Aces in 2024, and she came to the Valkyries in the expansion draft before this season.
Even at Iowa, Martin was the kind of glue player that keeps a team together. That's harder to do in the professional ranks, but maybe Martin can pull it off.
And if she keeps scoring like this, there might be less need to bother those around about anything else.
Regardless of the scoreboard, it'll go down as a special outing for Martin.
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