Valkyries Own the Glass, Take Game 1 From Aces 71-60

The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Las Vegas Aces 71-60 on Sunday at Chase Center in Game 1 of the WNBA Semifinals, outrebounding the Aces 52-25 and holding them to their lowest point total of the season.

Gabby Williams led all scorers with 25 points and added 11 rebounds and five assists for the first postseason double-double of her career. Kiah Stokes did not score but finished with a game-high 14 rebounds and four blocks. A’ja Wilson scored 24 points and Chelsea Gray added 16 for Las Vegas.

The win was the first for No. 2 seed Golden State against No. 3 seed Las Vegas this season and gives the Valkyries a 1-0 lead in the series.

The first quarter included seven lead changes and three ties. Wilson scored 10 points in the period on 4-of-5 shooting, and a Jackie Young 3-pointer gave Las Vegas a 16-13 lead with 3:10 remaining. Golden State closed the quarter on a 9-2 run, with Williams scoring the final five points on a driving layup and three free throws, to lead 22-18. Williams had 13 points in the quarter, tying her postseason high for a single period, and the Valkyries did not trail again.

Golden State opened the second quarter with a Kaitlyn Chen 3-pointer and an Aminata Gueye putback, and a Veronica Burton jumper stretched the lead to 34-23 with 4:22 left in the half. The Valkyries did not score again before the break. Las Vegas answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a Wilson turnaround jumper with 36 seconds remaining, and trailed 34-31 at halftime. Williams had 18 points at the half, matching her postseason high for a half, and Wilson had 15.

Rebounding kept Golden State in front while its shots were not falling. The Valkyries shot 31.4% in the first half but collected 10 offensive rebounds and held a 15-0 advantage in second-chance points. For the game, Golden State had 17 offensive rebounds to two for Las Vegas and outscored the Aces 20-5 on second-chance points and 34-18 in the paint. The 52 rebounds are a franchise record for any game, regular season or postseason, and are tied for the third most in WNBA postseason history.

Stokes had seven offensive rebounds and seven defensive rebounds while drawing the defensive assignment on Wilson, and three of her four blocks came on Wilson attempts. She is the first player since 2012 with at least 11 rebounds, seven offensive rebounds and four blocks in a postseason game. Kayla Thornton added eight points and a postseason career-high 11 rebounds, five of them on the offensive end.

“MVP of the game tonight,” Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase said of Stokes. “Her disruption, her matching up with A’ja [Wilson] is a really tough task, and I thought she did an amazing job.”

Stokes said she was not satisfied with how she played against Las Vegas during the regular season.

“So just mentally, I was coming in like, ‘It’s now or never. This is the semis; there’s no time to think too much about it,’” Stokes said. “I just knew what I had to do. Shout-out to my teammates for trusting me, but this was definitely a team win.”

Golden State created separation in the third quarter, shooting 52.9% from the field and outscoring Las Vegas 22-17. Cecilia Zandalasini scored the Valkyries’ first five points of the half, and Gueye scored seven in the period on 3-of-3 shooting, including a three-point play that made it 52-42 with 2:21 remaining. Gray kept the Aces close with 10 points in the quarter, but Golden State carried a 56-48 lead into the fourth.

Gueye finished with a postseason career-high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, along with two steals and a block. Chen added 11 points, and the Golden State reserves outscored the Las Vegas bench 27-7.

Williams called Gueye “fearless” and said she told Nakase that Gueye was ready to play.

“She just knows how to hoop,” Williams said. “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.”

Las Vegas pulled within 58-53 on a Young 3-pointer with 8:25 to play, the closest the Aces came in the final period. Williams answered with a step-back 3-pointer and Chen followed with a driving floater to restore an 11-point lead. After a Young basket with 6:40 left, Las Vegas did not make another field goal until a Kalani Brown putback with 53 seconds remaining. A Chen driving layup with 2:00 left gave Golden State its largest lead at 71-58.

Las Vegas shot 33.9% from the field for the game and 28.1% in the second half, when it scored 29 points. Wilson made six of her 11 shots before halftime and two of 10 after it, finishing 8 of 21 from the field and 8 of 11 at the free-throw line. Gray shot 5 of 14 and made three 3-pointers. Young had 11 points, five assists and three steals on 4-of-15 shooting, and Jewell Loyd did not score on two attempts.

The Aces committed six turnovers and forced 14, and each team scored 11 points off turnovers, but Las Vegas finished with two offensive rebounds. The 60 points were the fewest by the Aces in a postseason game since Oct. 3, 2021.

“We were really connected. We were really, really connected tonight,” Williams said. “I felt we were communicating. I felt we were showing them bodies, and then it came down to rebounding. I said after the game that KT [Kayla Thornton] and Kiah [Stokes] really won this game for us, limited them to one possession and then gave us extra possession.”

Williams shot 9 of 18 from the field and 4 of 7 from 3-point range. She is the ninth player in WNBA postseason history with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while shooting 50% or better from the field.

Game 2 of the series is Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 6:30 p.m. local time at Chase Center. The game will air on NBC Sports Network and Peacock.