Valkyries Take Game 1 of WNBA Semifinals Over Aces

Gabby Williams scored 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists to lead the Golden State Valkyries to a 71-60 victory over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals on Sunday.

Kiah Stokes contributed 14 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Valkyries, who held the defending champion Aces to their lowest point total of the season. The sellout crowd at Chase Center cheered enthusiastically as confetti fell following the final buzzer.

For the Aces, A’ja Wilson scored 24 points and Chelsea Gray added 16. Las Vegas lost guard Jewell Loyd to a left leg injury early in the third quarter, and coach Becky Hammon had no immediate update on her condition postgame.

Williams was a driving force for the Valkyries, scoring 18 of her points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that gave Golden State a 32-23 lead with 5:43 remaining before halftime. Playing in front of a crowd chanting her name, Williams shot 6-for-10 from the field in the first two quarters.

"The goal here is to win our home games, so yes we did well for the first game, but the Aces are championship-caliber; they know what it takes to win," said Stokes. "I know in their locker room they’re not happy with how they played so their whole goal is to come to our house and still win games, so they still have the opportunity to do that. Going forward we know that we need to come out on Wednesday and make sure we set the tone again."

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, who had been evaluated for an issue on the sideline during a previous game, was well enough to coach. She made a strategic substitution in the third quarter, bringing in Kaitlyn Chen for Veronica Burton when Burton struggled offensively. Chen went on to score 11 points.

Jackie Young’s 3-pointer with 8:25 left in the game pulled the Aces within 58-53, but the Valkyries maintained their lead. The game was a defensive struggle for both teams, with Golden State shooting 37.7% from the field and Las Vegas shooting 33.9%.

Newcomer Aminata Gueye scored nine points in just over 12 minutes off the bench for Golden State. Janelle Salaun, who was named WNBA Sixth Player of the Year before the game, received a warm reception from the crowd upon entering the contest.

Kayla Thornton added 11 rebounds and eight points for the Valkyries, who dominated the boards with a 52-25 advantage. "We were really, really connected tonight, I felt we were communicating, I felt like we were showing them bodies, and then it came down to rebounding," Williams said. "I said after the game that KT and Kiah really won this game for us, limited them to one possession and gave us extra possessions."

Las Vegas coach Hammon described the game as one of her team’s “most atrocious games of the season” and cited the rebounding disparity as a key factor.

Aces forward Stephanie Talbot missed the game due to a left leg injury. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Wednesday night at Chase Center.