Valkyries sign Kaila Charles following injury to center Monique Billings

The injuries have piled up for the Golden State Valkyries Center Monique Billings has been ruled out with an ankle sprain and will be reevaluated in three weeks the group declared on Friday In a corresponding move the Valkyries have signed guard Kaila Charles to a seven-day hardship contract Charles averaged points and four rebounds for the Dallas Wings this season Billings started eight games for the Valkyries averaging points and rebounds per competition She s been in the midst of a career shooting year making of her shots from the field Monique Billings of the Golden State Valkyries celebrates a play against the Las Vegas Aces during the first half at Chase Center on June in San Francisco California Photo by Thien-An Truong Getty Images The former UCLA standout missed the Valkyries contest against the Dallas Wings last Friday with a right ankle injury and Sunday s contest vs the Connecticut Sun with a left ankle injury Billings returned to the starting lineup on Tuesday against the Atlanta Dream but re-aggravated her left ankle injury in the second quarter and did not return Billings injury is a big blow to the Valkyries who are in the middle of one of their preponderance crucial stretches of the season Golden State already lost All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury and did not have sharpshooter Cecilia Zandalasini for Thursday s tournament against the Washington Mystics French center Iliana Rupert figures to see more time at center rotating with starter Temi F gb nl Coach Natalie Nakase has experimented with playing two centers in her starting lineup for the last two games and could use that strategy going forward Related Articles Valkyries survive Mystics comeback to notch road win get back to Valkyries win against Dream spoiled by fan who threw sex toy onto court It was super dangerous Valkyries takeaways Cecilia Zandalasini hits go-ahead jumper to lift Golden State over Dream Valkyries takeaways What went wrong against cellar-dwelling Connecticut Sun How Archbishop Mitty Stanford alum Haley Jones is finding her WNBA groove Charles had her best challenge against the Valkyries earlier this season In Golden State s - loss to the Wings on June Charles played a season-high minutes and scored points grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists The Valkyries are - and would be the last club in the playoffs if the postseason started currently Golden State will finish their road trip with a games against the Chicago Sky the present day and the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday