With the WNBA playoffs on the horizon, players are putting in their maximum effort to secure the best possible seeds. To that end, Friday night in the WNBA saw the Minnesota Lynx enter double digits in defeats, thanks to Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty.

Meanwhile, Golden State Valkyries’ Kaitlyn Chen proved she is more than just a bench player against expansion side Toronto Tempo, who failed to play spoiler against a team that is slowly catching up to head coach Cheryl Reeve’s side in the standings.

As the seeding for the playoffs is slowly beginning to form, let us take a look at what went down on Friday night in the world of the WNBA.

Breanna Stewart extends her record in the win against the Lynx

Fresh off winning the gold medal at the FIBA Women’s World Cup, Team USA captain and MVP Breanna Stewart has no intention of slowing down, which has made the 32-year-old one of the greatest players of this era. Friday against the Lynx was no different, as Stewart scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the Liberty held on for a 93-81 win over the Lynx away from home.

With Stewart’s 24 points, she has officially moved past Sue Bird and into ninth place on the WNBA’s career scoring list with 6,806 points. And it is more than guaranteed that the Liberty star will go up into eighth place in the next game against the Toronto Tempo, as she is only five points behind Cappie Pondexter.

Apart from Stewart, four other players in the New York Liberty lineup scored points in double digits. Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 10 rebounds, as Sabrina Ionescu finished with 17 points and a team-high 6 assists. Pauline Astier and Marine Johannes also showed up with 14 and 13 points each.

Up until the fourth quarter, the game was quite close. The Liberty led 65-62, but eventually did not allow the Lynx to make a late comeback after the Lynx made an 11-3 run in the third quarter.

With 1:33 left in the fourth quarter, Stewart started the strong finish with a jump shot to make it 86-79. Lynx star Napheesa Collier made a jump shot on the opposite end to cut the deficit to 86-81 with 1:26 left. However, that proved to be Minnesota’s final basket, as Jonquel Jones scored from outside the arc and in the paint. To finish it off for good, Ionescu made her two free throws. The Liberty ended the game with a solid 9-2 run.

The New York Liberty now extend their lead to 25-16 and sit in sixth place. However, the Washington Mystics and the Dallas Wings also hold the same record, so it is possible that this game was a preview of a potential first-round playoff matchup.

But the Lynx are currently on a three-game losing streak, and while Olivia Miles had another decent showcase, she was highly bothered by the officiating.

Valkyries extend win streak thanks to Kaitlyn Chen

The Golden State Valkyries have now won five games in a row, as Kaitlyn Chen recorded five shots from outside the arc to finish with 17 points, three assists, and a rebound off the bench against expansion side Portland Fire. The Valkyries convincingly beat the Fire 82-66 to earn their 30th victory of the season.

Overall, the Valkyries bench scored 43 points, as fellow reserve Laeticia Amihere went for a career-high 17 points. This victory becomes even more inspiring when we realise that Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaun and Cecilia Zandalasini were all rested for the game following participation in the FIBA Women’s World Cup tournament. Williams and Salaun went all the way, securing the silver medal after the defeat against Team USA in the final.

As for the starters, Kayla Thornton and Tip Hayes scored 13 points each. Meanwhile, Chen and Amihere created a lively pick-and-roll duo who tried to one-up each other by giving the other half credit.

“It was so much fun to play with her today, every day, but especially tonight,” Chen said, with Amihere adding, “She bailed me out a lot.” Even head coach Natalie Nakase believes the Valkyries’ first and second unit can be in sync.

“We make sure we’ve matched up our first unit to our second unit, and it’s not just playing against the scout guys, and we allow our first team to really go at them. I mean, if you’re playing our first unit, I think that’s pretty tough because of the physicality they bring.” Nakase said after the game.

The Valkyries now extend their record to 30-11 for the season and are now just one victory away from matching the Lynx’s 31-win record, who are currently on a three-game losing streak. With three games left to play in the regular season, it will be interesting to see which team finishes as the top seed.

Lynx losing and Valkyries winning keeps the No. 1 seed race alive

Olivia Miles scored 20 points, Kayla McBride scored 16, and Napheesa Collier scored 14 against the New York Liberty. In fact, the Rookie of the Year contender even gave her side a brief 69-67 lead when she converted a three-pointer with just over eight minutes left in the game.

However, that wasn’t enough as the New York Liberty pulled away, powered by Breanna Stewart’sperformance. While the Lynx still remain the league leaders, their loss skid has made securing the first seed quite hard, especially with the Valkyries now extending their win streak to five games.

While the Lynx had the chance to virtually secure the No. 1 seed if they defeated the Valkyries two games ago, they now have to win at least two of their remaining three games, considering the Valkyries also win the rest of their games.

The Lynx’s next game is against the Connecticut Sun. The Sun haven’t qualified for the playoffs and currently sit in 14th place in the standings, only above the last-place Seattle Storm. They’re also on a four-game losing streak.

On paper, it should be an easy win for the Lynx, but things haven’t gone their way recently. Following the Sun game, Minnesota will finish their regular season with two back-to-back games against the fifth-placed Indiana Fever.

While the Fever’s defense remains their biggest weakness, their offensive rating continues to be far above every other WNBA team this season at 97.1 points per game.

So the question is: Will the Minnesota Lynx be able to recover in time to secure the No. 1 seed and, with it, home-court advantage? Or will the Valkyries continue their rise?