The Golden State Valkyries’ secret weapon will no longer be an unknown when the second-seeded club shoots to take a 2-0 lead over the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals Wednesday night in San Francisco.
Late-season addition Aminata Gueye tag-teamed with defensive stalwart Kiah Stokes to limit Aces star center A’ja Wilson’s offensive effectiveness and keep her almost completely off the boards in Golden State’s 71-60 home win in the series opener Sunday.
Gueye, 24, is a native of Paris who has played professionally in France, Spain and the Czech Republic. She signed with the Valkyries in September, following the FIBA Women’s World Cup, on the recommendation of Golden State’s two French national team stars, Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaun.
She played just once — for just under four minutes — in the regular season, then only in the fourth quarter of a blowout win over the Dallas Wings in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
That’s what made her bright-lights performance against the Aces — nine points, two rebounds, two steals and a block in 13 minutes off the bench — as shocking as it was productive.
“She’s fearless,” Williams told reporters about Gueye, who at 6-foot-4 matches Wilson’s height. “Coach (Natalie Nakase) was asking me about her, and I was like, ‘Throw her in. That girl is ready. That girl is ready.’ It gives Kiah (Stokes) a break, so then Kiah can come back in with fresh legs.
“But Ami, I mean, she just knows how to hoop. She’s physical, she works really, and that’s exactly what our identity is. So I think that’s why she fits in so well.”
Gueye had never played against Wilson, who sat out last month’s World Cup.
The 6-3 Stokes, who played the 27 minutes Gueye didn’t, did a majority of the defensive work on Wilson, who had 24 points but missed 13 of her 21 shots, and just four rebounds, equaling her fewest ever in 59 career postseason games.
After watching her star guards — Chelsea Gray (5-for-14) and Jackie Young (4-for-15) — struggle from the field as the Aces shot just 33.9%, Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon had no doubt where the game was lost and what needed to change in Game 2.
“All we talked about for the last 48 hours was rebounding and blocking them out,” she said after Game 1, “and we did not do it. Period.”
The Valkyries outrebounded the Aces 52-25 overall and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, compared with Las Vegas’ two.
–Field Level Media
