The Golden State Valkyries beat the Dallas Wings 77-73 in Game 3 of their first round WNBA playoff series on Friday night at Chase Center. Golden State came back from 16 points down to earn postseason advancement for the first time in franchise history.
The second-seeded Valkyries won Game 1 104-80 on Sunday in San Francisco. Two days later, the seventh-seeded Wings forced a deciding game with a 108-100 overtime win Wednesday in Arlington behind a WNBA playoff-record 45 points from Arike Ogunbowale.
What can the WNBA world take away from this first-round thriller?
Gabby Williams Took Over the Final Half
Before Game 3, head coach Natalie Nakase said the Valkyries had promised themselves "we are going to play the best four quarters of our lives." True to that prediction, Golden State won the fourth 23-14 to secure the win.
Williams, the Valkyries' All-Star acquisition, scored 17 of her 19 points after halftime in Game 3. She hit two three-pointers late in the third quarter and her 17-footer put Golden State ahead for good with 1:17 left.
Trailing by seven at halftime, the Valkyries missed three straight three-pointers and nine straight shots overall to open the third while the Wings went on a 9-0 run for their largest lead at 53-37. Golden State was within 59-54 entering the fourth quarter thanks to an 11-point outburst from Williams.
GABBY WILLIAMS GETS BALLHALLA ON ITS FEET 🫨#WNBA pic.twitter.com/sGiYnv56BO
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 3, 2026
In the fourth, Veronica Burton's layup with 8:19 left cut the deficit to 61-59 before Kaila Charles tied it at 65 with a three-pointer less than 90 seconds later. From there on, the largest lead of the game was Dallas by five, when Ogunbowale an off-balance jumper with 3:13 remaining. The Valkyries scored six straight after that, ending with Williams' aforementioned two.
With 13.1 seconds left and Golden State up one, Williams jumped back inbounds to save her own miss. The play was first ruled Dallas' ball but the call was overturned after a Nakase challenge. Williams hit two at the line after an intentional foul
Burton finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in Friday's win. Fellow reserve Tiffany Hayes scored 18 off the bench, and Kiah Stokes grabbed 13 rebounds.
Arike Ogunbowale's Record Night Forced Game 3
Golden State beat Dallas in all four regular-season meetings. Game 2 was the Wings' first—and only—win over the Valkyries this season.
Ogunbowale scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and 11 more in overtime of her Game 2 masterpiece. The most vital points came when Ogunbowale took a pass from Paige Bueckers on the left baseline and hit an off-balance corner 3-pointer for a 93-93 tie with just over four seconds left in regulation.
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE TIES IT IN THE CLUTCH ON ESPN 😱 pic.twitter.com/SzIqm8EaGl
— ESPN (@espn) October 1, 2026
Williams was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing inbound play. Replay reversed the call, and the possession went to a jump ball with three seconds left. The ensuing scrum took off the rest of regulation time.
Ogunbowale opened overtime by banking in a three-pointer off another Bueckers assist. With the score tied at 98, she and Hayes were each called for flagrant fouls after they had to be separated following a Williams three. Both made a pair of free throws with 2:26 left and Ogunbowale's next 3-pointer put Dallas ahead for good with 1:46 remaining.
The Valkyries did not score again. They shot 2-of-12 in overtime, and Dallas won the extra period 15-7. All that and more apparently wasn't enough for the leading scorer: Ogunbowale told The Dallas Morning News hat the Wings "felt like [they] got pushed around out there."
Off the bench, Alysha Clark tied her playoff career high with 21 points in Game 2, and Aziaha James added 13. Williams scored a career-high 36 points for Golden State on 12-of-23 shooting in defeat. She missed all six of her shots in the final 1:31 of overtime.
Ogunbowale followed the record night with 30 points on 11-of-21 shooting in Game 3.
Golden State Took Bueckers Away After Game 1
Bueckers scored 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting in Game 1. She made 7 of 8 shots in the first half.
Over the final two games, however, she went 6-of-27 from the field. Bueckers had 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting and four assists in Game 2. In Game 3, she scored 17 points on 3-of-14 shooting, though she made all 10 of her free throws, and had six assists.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez took note of winning without a typical Bueckers night, remarking that Dallas "had other people step up" after Game 2. Following the finale, Fernandez his team "didn't get to this point without Paige." Ogunbowale sat beside Bueckers at the Game 3 postgame press conference and concurred, saying the 2025 top pick "willed us throughout the whole season."
Game 1 Was Decided in the Second Quarter
Golden State outscored Dallas 37-11 in the second quarter of Game 1. The Valkyries went 10-of-20 from three-point range in the first half and led 58-31 at the break.
The game-changing run began when Kayla Thornton's three-pointer with 7:23 left in the second quarter put Golden State up 32-24. That was part of a night where Valkyries shot 18-of-36 from deep for the game while Dallas went 6-of-20. The 104 points were the most in Valkyries history.
"When we're awake, we're ferocious on defense," Nakase said after her team allowed Golden State allowed only five field beyond Bueckers in the first half.
Cecilia Zandalasini led Golden State with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including four threes. Hayes scored 21 off the bench, and Williams added 20. Zandalasini was held in check the rest of the way, scoring five points in each of the latter two games.
Where Dallas Goes From Here
The Wings played the series without Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, who had arthroscopic knee surgery in August. Dallas finished the regular season 27-17 in Fernandez's first year, more than doubling the 10 wins earned last year.
