Gabby Williams had 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, Kiah Stokes added 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, and the Golden State Valkyries took Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals by beating the defending champion Las Vegas Aces 71-60 on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A’ja Wilson scored 24 points while Chelsea Gray contributed 16 points for Las Vegas, which lost guard Jewell Loyd to a left leg injury early in the third quarter. The team said she was being evaluated. <\/p>\n
Playing to chants of “Gabby! Gabby!” from the sellout crowd at Chase Center, Williams scored 18 of her points on 6-for-10 shooting in the first half, including a 3-pointer that put Golden State ahead 32-23 with 5:43 left before halftime.<\/p>\n
That defeaning “Ballhalla” home crowd turned the arena into a sea of violet-colored T-shirts and energy the Valkyries have so counted on in their first two seasons. Fans waved and cheered when the final buzzer sounded and confetti fell.<\/p>\n
Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night back at Chase Center.<\/p>\n
Golden State coach Natalie Nakase was well enough to coach after she went down on the sideline near Golden State’s bench with 1:40 remaining Friday night in a 77-73 comeback win to clinch the first-round series against Dallas. She was examined by a doctor during the day off Saturday.<\/p>\n
Jackie Young’s 3-pointer with 8:25 left pulled Las Vegas within 58-53. WNBA leading scorer and reigning MVP Wilson made 6 of 11 first-half shots for 15 points for the third-seeded Aces.<\/p>\n
It was a defensive, low-scoring game in which neither team shot particularly well \u2014 the Valkyries 37.7% to 33.9% for Las Vegas \u2014 after both went the distance in the best-of-three first round to advance.<\/p>\n
Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton struggled on the offensive end, missing a layup and 3-pointer during one third-quarter sequence and sat down at the 7:29 mark. And Nakase then went to Kaitlyn Chen for the rest of the game and she scored 11 points.<\/p>\n
Mixing and matching rotations worked out after Golden State shot just 31.4% \u2014 11 for 35 and 5 of 15 on 3s \u2014 in the first half. Newcomer Aminata Gueye came off the bench to score nine points in 12-plus minutes for the Valkyries. She signed with the team Sept. 20 after playing with Williams and Janelle Salaun on the French team in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.<\/p>\n
Salaun received a rousing ovation when she entered the game with 2:25 left in the first quarter after being named WNBA Sixth Player of the Year before the game. <\/p>\n
Kayla Thornton pulled down 11 rebounds to go with eight points for the Valkyries, who were 3 for 10 from 3-point range in the opening quarter and finished just 7 of 24 from deep.<\/p>\n
Las Vegas forward Stephanie Talbot missed the game because of a left leg injury.<\/p>\n
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