WNBA semifinals are set: How the Valkyries beat the Wings to advance — SkimNews
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- Golden State beat Dallas 77-73 at Chase Center on Friday, rallying from a 16-point deficit after the Wings opened the second half on a 20-0 run that spanned halftime.
- Gabby Williams scored a team-high 19 points, hitting two 3-pointers during a 14-4 Valkyries run that cut the deficit to five heading into the fourth quarter — one day after a career-high 36 in Game 2.
- The 16-point comeback ties the fifth-largest in a winner-take-all WNBA playoff game and is the largest since the Aces rallied from 16 down against the Sun in the 2020 semifinals.
- The Las Vegas Aces — the defending champions led by A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray — visit Chase Center on Sunday for Game 1 of a best-of-five semifinal, facing Golden State's league-best defense (75.1 points allowed per game).
- Dallas exits after a rapid turnaround from the WNBA's bottom two seasons ago, rebuilt behind consecutive No. 1 picks Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, Most Improved Player Jessica Shepard, and Arike Ogunbowale's historic 45-point Game 2.
Why it matters: Golden State's league-best defense (75.1 points allowed per game) faces its toughest test against the Aces' Wilson-Young-Gray trio, while Dallas exits with proof the Bueckers-Fudd-Shepard rebuild is working — the Wings went from the WNBA's bottom two seasons ago to a competitive first-round series despite the loss of Fudd and Alanna Smith to injuries.
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