Gabby Williams capped a big second half by scoring Golden State’s last eight points in a game-ending 10-1 run as the Valkyries rallied past the Dallas Wings 77-73 in the decisive Game 3 of their WNBA first-round playoff series in San Francisco on Friday.
Golden State, in its second season, is headed to the league semifinals for the first time.
Williams, who hit a go-ahead jumper with 1:17 remaining, totaled 19 points. Tiffany Hayes scored 18 for the second-seeded Valkyries, who will have the home-court advantage when they face the third-seeded Las Vegas Aces in a best-of-five set that tips off Sunday in San Francisco.
Golden State’s Veronica Burton contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Teammate Kiah Stokes led all rebounders with 13.
A 20-0 run bridging the second and third periods gave seventh-seeded Dallas a 53-37 edge four minutes into the third period.
But Williams, benched early in the third quarter while struggling with just two points, re-entered the contest with three minutes remaining in the period and proceeded to score 17 points over the final 13 minutes, carrying the Valkyries to the victory.
Seven consecutive points by Dallas star Arike Ogunbowale after she had left the game with an apparent groin injury allowed the visitors to retain a 72-67 lead with just 3:13 to play.
But Kaila Charles and Williams countered with hoops, and when the Golden State All-Star hit from mid-range with 77 seconds left, the Valkyries had the lead for good.
Williams added four clinching free throws in the final 9.6 seconds, securing Golden State’s first-ever playoff-series win.
Coming off a record-breaking, 45-point explosion in Game 2, Ogunbowale once again was the game’s top scorer with 30 points, but Paige Bueckers hit only three of her 14 shots on a 17-point night.
Jessica Shepard aided the Dallas cause with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
After holding the upper hand most of the first half yet finding themselves down 37-33 two minutes to go before the break, the Wings finished the second period on an 11-0 run to take a 44-37 lead into the intermission.
Ogunbowale, who led all scorers in the half with 17 points, and Bueckers, who had 10, did all the Dallas scoring in the burst. The Wings opened the third period with the first nine points.
–Field Level Media
