SAN FRANCISCO – Dallas star Arike Ogunbowale said the Valkyries just wanted it more.

That’s hard to believe when she scored 75 points in the final two games of the series and willed the Wings to a dramatic Game 2 win in overtime.

But Game 3 on Friday night at Chase Center was different, and it was so Valkyries. They overcame a 16-point, second-half deficit to win 77-73 and advance to the WNBA semifinals.

The second-year franchise will play defending champion Las Vegas in Game 1 of a best-of-five series on Sunday in San Francisco.

The victory Friday came with a late-game scare as Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase fainted on the sideline during a timeout with 1:40 left. She quickly got back up, drew a play and finished the game. Assistant Kasib Powell handled Nakase’s postgame media responsibilities and said the coach was “fine.”

Four Valkyries players scored in double figures on Friday; Veronica Burton had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as Golden State’s leader, and Gabby Williams added 19 points as their star. But the next two leading scorers – Tiffany “Tip” Hayes with 18 points and Kaila Charles with 10 points and six rebounds – were just as essential.

There was a point in Game 3 when Ogunbowale had 17 points and the Valkyries’ starters had combined for 18. If not for Hayes’ 13-point second quarter and Charles’ late offensive rebound and bucket, this wasn’t going to be a comeback at all.

That’s how Golden State got to this point, too; a group of players overlooked in some way or another told that this franchise did buy in on them, and it has paid off with a trip to the WNBA semifinals in just their second year as a franchise.

“I mean, being on the inside, being able to actually see the work that’s being put in by not just us, but the staff as well,” Hayes said. “They’re working day in and day out just like we are, to get better. Not only as individuals but as a team. I literally commend everybody down the line, top to bottom, bottom to top, on just our work ethic and, and wanting to work and wanting to win and wanting to get better as a team.”

Two years ago, Hayes was retired. Midway through last season, Charles was cut by this Dallas team before latching on with the Valkyries on a hardship contract.

Even Williams, who has emerged as Golden State’s star, has never quite felt like a WNBA team has bought into her like this.

“I came here because I wanted someone to believe in me,” she said. “In the league, at least, you know, I think I’ve had these moments, you know, with Fenner, with my national team, but I never quite got that belief in the W from the staff or from my teammates. So the fact that I believe in Tip like she believes in me, I believe in Kai like she believes in Kiah (Stokes) like she believes in V. It’s down the line.

“We all just really trust each other with whatever decision and the fact they trust me to have the ball in my hands. It’s not even about taking the shot, just making the right decision, but I’m able to do that because we always have four people that can go off on the floor.”

So on a night when their head coach literally passed out and it took everything to beat a team with stars like Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers, the Valkyries formula found success. Yes, Williams and Burton needed big nights, but it wasn’t too long ago they weren’t taken seriously as WNBA game changers, either. Burton was cut by the Wings just two seasons ago, before she was left unprotected by Connecticut in the expansion draft.

Two of the Valkyries other starters, Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini, were left unprotected in expansion, too. Stokes’ playing time had diminished in Las Vegas before she signed with the Valkyries, and she wasn’t even supposed to be Golden State’s starting center this season if not for Iliana Rupert’s pregnancy.

Charles, though, might represent exactly who the Valkyries want to be the most. She played 27 minutes off the bench, more than any other bench player has the entire postseason across the league in a single (regulation) game other than the Aces’ Jewell Loyd.

And there weren’t any egos saying that it should have been a more traditional, starting player in that spot.

“Kai being on the floor tonight was really, really important,” Hayes said. “She’s been doing it all season, but especially in this playoff series, she just I mean her plays aren’t loud, but they’re so so important, and they’re definitely not for granted. And then Kia just shows why she’s a champion in this league. The plays that she made at the end were just as clutch as any shot that was made.”

Ultimately they won an elimination, winner-take-all playoff game to get to the semifinals not on the back of a historic offensive performance, but on hustle plays. Williams’ offensive rebound to stay in bounds and keep the ball with 13.1 seconds left was ultimately the winning play.

“Those kinds of plays,” Hayes said. “That’s why they’re so important.”

Janelle Salaun, who is expected to win the league’s Sixth Player Award as the best bench player, is second on the Valkyries with 12.7 points per game and Kaitlyn Chen has infused offense whenever the Valkyries have needed a spark, too.

This is a team that is one of the last four standing not because they have a Caitlin Clark or A’ja Wilson or Angel Reese or Breanna Stewart, but because they have Williams and Burton and Hayes and Charles able to compliment each other in the biggest game in franchise history, Friday’s thrilling comeback.

“We knew what we needed to do to execute, so it was no need to panic,” said Powell. “But we knew it was going to be a hard journey to get over (the hump and) beat them. So we’re just happy that we executed and stayed calm.”