Golden State Valkyries Kayla Thornton (5), Kiah Stokes (41) and Veronica Burton (22) defend the Seattle Storm’s  Awa Fam in a game on Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco. Valkyries players recently visited Alcatraz.

As the Golden State Valkyries head into the playoffs, fans have a new name for the ferocious defense that has become one of the team’s signatures. They call it “Valkatraz.” 

I smile every time I hear it because I know there’s a story behind that name.

Earlier this summer, Tiffany “Tip” Hayes and her Valkyries teammates boarded a ferry for Alcatraz Island for a custom tour of one of the Bay Area’s most iconic national park sites. Tip had been talking about bringing her teammates to the island for more than a year. They came to experience Alcatraz and its history. What none of us could have predicted was how the experience would follow them back across the bay.  

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“Valkatraz” took on a life of its own, becoming a nickname for the team’s stifling defense and another piece of the identity this remarkable team is building in the Bay Area.  

The connection is hard to miss. Alcatraz was once known as one of the country’s most formidable federal penitentiaries, and the Valkyries have built a reputation for their own kind of lockdown, pressuring opponents so much they fear the turnovers, missed shots and steals they face in Ballhalla, the Chase Center’s nickname.   

The Valkyries led the........

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