Moments after the Golden State Valkyries ended their season on Sept. 17 with a heartbreaking one-point loss to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, guard Kate Martin stood on the court and listened as the din of cheers from the sold-out crowd of 18,500 people swelled.

“From the tip-off to the final buzzer — and even after the final buzzer — it was so loud in there,” she said in a news conference the next day. “The loudest I’ve ever heard it.”

Due to a scheduling conflict, the game was at San Jose’s SAP Center, not the Valkyries’ usual home arena, San Francisco’s Chase Center, which is known as Ballhalla during WNBA games. The nickname is a nod to Norse mythology, where female figures known as valkyries bring souls of the dead to Valhalla, the afterlife. But even away from home, Ballhalla’s f

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