Valkyries Clinch Second Straight Playoff Berth In 78-70 Win Over Wings

The Golden State Valkyries are headed back to the WNBA playoffs.

Golden State clinched a postseason berth for the second straight season Monday night with a 78-70 win over the Dallas Wings at Chase Center. Gabby Williams scored 23 points with 7 rebounds and 4 steals as the Valkyries won their sixth straight game.

Williams shot 8-of-20 from the field, 3-of-8 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. It was her sixth 20-point game of the season.

Golden State improved to 25-9 and remained the No. 2 seed behind the Minnesota Lynx at 29-7. The Valkyries have won 8 of their last 10 games and 13 of 15.

Dallas led 17-13 after the first quarter before Golden State took control in the second. The Valkyries outscored the Wings 24-9 in the period and finished the half on a 22-5 run.

Only once this season has Dallas scored fewer than 9 points in a second quarter. The Wings had 7 in a June 17 loss to Golden State.

Veronica Burton made all three of her 3-pointers in the second quarter. She finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists while shooting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase's goal remains for Golden State to be the team that wins the final game on the schedule.

"It means a lot to our fans," Nakase said. "Our fans show up. I thought they were incredibly loud tonight. I thought Ballhalla was on a different level, so it's really good for us because we want to make sure every night we play for Ballhalla."

"But at the end of the day, we still have a lot of work to do," Nakase continued. "So I thought it was a good job. And also, too, we talked about earlier doing this for Cynthia [Cheek]. I think there's a special type of purpose tonight. So with that, we're happy we got the job done, but we got a lot of work to do."

The announced attendance was 18,064. Golden State has sold out all 19 home games this season and each of the 41 regular-season home games in franchise history.

The Valkyries are 15-4 at Chase Center this season.

Three players on Golden State's roster have won a championship: Cecilia Zandalasini, Kayla Thornton, and Kiah Stokes. The Valkyries are preparing for a postseason field that includes teams with substantially more continuity and playoff experience together.

Nakase needs Williams to deliver messages inside player huddles, particularly when coaches cannot be heard.

"[Her] leadership jumps out right away," Nakase explained. "The fact that she wants to say the things that need to be said when I'm not there. I actually watched them this time in their huddles and heard what they said, and it was on point. It was fierce, it was harsh, it was needed, and then the players you could tell really responded. So that's the leadership that I need sometimes when I'm not there."

"Then in the playoffs you're not going to be able to hear anything," Nakase added. "So I said, 'y'all really got to know lock in and be able to say things within seconds.' Then you saw her in her flow state today. We had Tip [Tiffany] Hayes in her flow state the other game, and Gabby [Williams] was just flowing. Being able to take big shots within our pace, but I [also] think her defense is pretty vicious."

Earlier this season, Williams became the first All-Star starter in Valkyries history. She finished the All-Star Game with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Williams has gone into games expecting Golden State to find an answer regardless of what happens.

"I think I'm more excited about how we've done it versus us doing it," Williams said. "I knew we were going to do it since I got here, but I didn't expect us to do it this way, have this much fun. Every game I go into, I have zero doubt, because I know some way we're going to figure it out. We're gonna stay together, and I think that's what I didn't expect to be so great. Of course, I wanted to, and I had a feeling, but to live it every day has been amazing."

Defense has been at the center of Golden State's season. The Valkyries lead the league with a 101.4 defensive rating and allow a WNBA-low 76.7 points per game.

Golden State has held opponents to 70 points or fewer 10 times. Two opponents have finished below 60.

Seven Valkyries rank among the league's top 15 in defensive rating among players who have appeared in at least 15 games. Stokes ranks third at 96.6, followed by Zandalasini in fourth at 97.0. Laeticia Amihere is seventh at 98.0, and Burton is eighth at 98.1.

Thornton ranks 10th at 98.1. Kaila Charles is 12th at 99.0, and Williams ranks 13th at 99.5.

Burton said the group has learned to enjoy making opponents struggle to score.

"It's intense," Burton said. "It's the film, it's the little details, it's the repetition of the drills that we've been doing since training camp, and it's not getting tired of the little things. Whether it's as simple as ball screen coverage; we drill it all the time and it's going to be ingrained in us. The second we dip even a little bit, we're held accountable, and we're going to hear about it."

"We're going to watch it on film. We're going to know about it," Burton continued. "There's still a lot of room for growth, but I think I've learned to really appreciate being so obsessed over the details because you see it. It translates. We play defense, and we make other teams struggle to score, and I think we find joy in that. So it can be hard, and it can be exhausting at times, but I think we have the right group of people, top to bottom, to get it done."

Tiffany Hayes scored 10 points Monday, reaching double figures for the third consecutive game and sixth time in seven games.

Janelle Salaün added 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench and made 2-of-6 from 3-point range. On July 29, Salaün made her 69th 3-pointer of the season to set the record for the most by a reserve. She now has 82, which ranks seventh in the WNBA.

Salaün also leads league reserves at 13.0 points per game.

Golden State made 12-of-36 from 3-point range against Dallas. The Valkyries have made 368 this season, second-most in the league. Their 10.8 made 3-pointers per game lead the WNBA.

The Valkyries also turned 18 Dallas turnovers into 20 points. Golden State's bench held a 27-12 scoring advantage, and its largest lead reached 20.

Paige Bueckers led the Wings with 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting. She added 3 assists and committed 7 turnovers.

Arike Ogunbowale scored 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting and went 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. Alanna Smith had 13 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 6-of-9. Awak Kuier grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked 3 shots.

Dallas outscored Golden State 24-16 in the fourth quarter and finished at 44.8% from the field. The Valkyries shot 37.5%.

The Wings fell to 20-16 and have lost consecutive games after giving up a 20-point lead in a 96-92 loss to the Washington Mystics.

Golden State's six-game winning streak is its second-longest of the season. The current 13-2 stretch also includes a 92-81 win over the Toronto Tempo on Aug. 4 that completed a season sweep.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, Golden State became the 14th team across MLB, MLS, the NBA, NFL, and WNBA to qualify for the postseason in each of its first two seasons.

The WNBA playoffs begin Sept. 27. The first round will use a best-of-three, 1-1-1 format, followed by best-of-five semifinals and a best-of-seven Finals.

Golden State hosts Minnesota on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT.