Valkyries Erase 16-Point Deficit, Oust Wings in Game 3 Thriller to Reach WNBA Semifinals

The Golden State Valkyries erased a 16-point deficit to beat the Dallas Wings 77-73 on Friday night in a wild, deciding Game 3 of their best-of-three WNBA first-round playoff series, punching their first-ever ticket to the semifinals in franchise history.

Gabby Williams scored 19 points, 17 of them after halftime, and hit a go-ahead 17-foot jumper with 1:17 remaining to put Golden State in front for good. The finish needed a review: with 13.1 seconds left and the Valkyries clinging to a one-point lead, Williams chased down her own miss on a loose ball that officials initially ruled had gone out of bounds off Golden State. Coach Natalie Nakase successfully challenged the call, and the possession stood, sealing the win moments later.

A 16-Point Hole, and a Furious Rally

Dallas looked ready to force a trip back to San Francisco for a nonexistent Game 4 — the format was best-of-three — after reeling off 18 unanswered points spanning the end of the first half and the start of the third quarter, then opening the second half on a 9-0 run to build a 53-37 lead, its largest of the night. Golden State missed nine shots in a row during the drought. The comeback that followed is tied for the fifth-largest in a winner-take-all game in WNBA playoff history: the Valkyries trimmed the gap to 59-54 after three quarters, then outscored Dallas 23-14 in the fourth. Kaila Charles' corner three tied the score at 65 with 6:51 to play, and Williams' late basket, following a late surge from Arike Ogunbowale that had put the Wings back up by five, delivered the decisive blow.

Veronica Burton added 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and Tiffany Hayes scored 18 off the bench. Kiah Stokes grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds with three blocks. For Dallas, Ogunbowale finished with 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting, and Paige Bueckers had 17 points and six assists despite going just 3 for 14 from the field (she made all 10 of her free throws).

How Golden State Got Here

The series had already produced one of the signature individual performances of this postseason. Golden State took Game 1 comfortably, 104-80, behind Cecilia Zandalasini's 22 points and a 37-11 second quarter, but Dallas forced a decider two nights later when Arike Ogunbowale set a WNBA playoff scoring record with 45 points in a 108-100 overtime win, hitting a corner three with 4.1 seconds left in regulation to force the extra period before pouring in 11 more there. "I didn't know what I would score," Ogunbowale said afterward. "I was going to shoot regardless because I just feel like seven shots isn't enough to win playoffs."

That left Friday's rematch as a true win-or-go-home game for both sides, and it nearly produced a second signature moment for the Wings before Golden State's late rally turned it over.

Who's Affected

The No. 2-seeded Valkyries, in just their second season as a franchise, had never previously won a playoff series; last year they became the first expansion team in WNBA history to reach the postseason in its inaugural season, only to lose in the first round. Friday's win changes that history and extends Chase Center's sellout streak to 47 straight games, with 18,064 fans on hand.

The game also produced a scare off the court. Nakase, who had fallen to her knees on the sideline late in regulation and needed help standing back up, walked off after the final buzzer holding her face as players celebrated at midcourt. The team said she was fine and expected to be on the bench for Sunday's semifinal opener, but it was assistant coach Kasib Powell who addressed reporters in the postgame news conference in her place.

"We made a promise to ourselves we are going to play the best four quarters of our lives."

Nakase said that before the game, a promise her team needed all four quarters — and a fourth-quarter rally — to keep.

What's Next

Golden State advances to a best-of-five semifinal against the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, who eliminated the Indiana Fever in their own three-game first-round series behind A'ja Wilson. The semifinal round, set by the league, is built around two matchups:

• No. 2 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 3 Las Vegas Aces
• No. 8 New York Liberty vs. No. 4 Atlanta Dream

Golden State will host Game 1 of the semifinals on Sunday at Chase Center, where the Valkyries will try to carry Friday's momentum into a tougher test against the two-time-defending champions. Dallas, meanwhile, closes out a season in which the seventh-seeded Wings pushed the West's No. 2 seed to the brink behind one of the great individual scoring stretches of the playoffs.