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Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) looks to get past Golden State Valkyries guard Kaila Charles (6) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game played on Friday, August 7, 2026 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Steve Nurenberg\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The Dallas Wings<\/a> have known for weeks they were bound for the\u00a0WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2023.<\/p>\n But it took until the final night of the regular season for Paige Bueckers<\/a> and her teammates to learn their opponent will be the No. 2 seed Golden State Valkyries<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Wings enter the postseason as the No. 7 seed and having won seven of their last eight games, but the Valkyries proved to be a thorn in Dallas’ side all season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “We definitely had a lot of glimpses of good basketball, and we know we can compete with\u00a0them,” Wings guard\u00a0Arike Ogunbowale said Friday after practice in Arlington. “But I think they just had a lot of good basketball for a longer period of time than us. So if we can string together 40 minutes, I think it’s going to be a really competitive series.”<\/p>\n So who has the advantage? Here’s an early scouting report of the series, which also includes a look at the three-game regular season slate that fell in Golden State’s favor:<\/p>\n Previous meetings this season\u00a0<\/p>\n Dallas met Golden State three times during the 2026 season. It may have been three times too many as the Valkyries swept the series. Golden State leads the all-time regular season series against Dallas 6-1 since its expansion season in 2025.<\/p>\n June 17: Valkyries 91, Wings 80 at Golden State<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Gabby Williams scored 25 points, while Kaitlyn Chen came off the bench to score 15 points against former UConn teammates Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, and the Valkyries beat the Wings in the season’s first matchup.<\/p>\n Aug. 7:\u00a0Valkyries 94, Wings 76 at Dallas<\/a><\/p>\n Amid the Wings’ slippery slope after the All-Star break, Fudd’s absence was the main storyline of\u00a0a blowout loss to Golden State at American Airlines Center. Dallas didn’t know it then, but\u00a0the No. 1 overall draft pick had played her last game of the season<\/a> two days prior, due to injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n