The Golden State Valkyries are going to the WNBA Finals in only their second season. They finished a three-game sweep of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Friday night, winning Game 3 87-77 in overtime in Las Vegas.
According to the team, no expansion franchise in league history had reached the Finals that quickly. Golden State was also the first expansion team to make the playoffs in its debut season, in 2025.
How Game 3 turned
The Aces were up 45-36 before Golden State went on a 17-0 third-quarter run that put the Valkyries ahead 53-47. Las Vegas scored just seven points in that quarter, the box score shows, but came back to lead by six late in the fourth.
Golden State tied it at 69 with 1:50 to go, when Gabby Williams stole the ball from A'ja Wilson and Kayla Thornton finished a layup on the break. Veronica Burton then put the Valkyries ahead on a short floater with 1:12 left. Jackie Young tied it again on an inbound layup with 27 seconds remaining, and neither team scored after that, sending the game to overtime.
Overtime was all Golden State. The Valkyries outscored Las Vegas 16-6 and made all eight of their free throws, and Williams hit a step-back jumper with under a minute left that the team called the dagger. Thornton led the Valkyries with 18 points. Williams had 16, eight of them in overtime. Former Aces Kiah Stokes and Tiffany Hayes each scored 11, and Stokes also pulled down 10 rebounds. Young scored 18 for Las Vegas and Chelsea Gray had 17.
The Aces had won three of the previous four titles.
The Finals start Oct. 17 at Chase Center
Second-seeded Golden State will have home-court advantage against the No. 4 Atlanta Dream, which swept the New York Liberty earlier Friday night. Neither team has won a WNBA championship.
Game 1 is Saturday, Oct. 17, at 12:30 p.m. PT at Chase Center in San Francisco and will air on NBC and Peacock. Game 2 is also at Chase Center. Atlanta hosts Games 3 and 4, and if the series goes further, Golden State would host Games 5 and 7 and Atlanta Game 6. The team says all of its home Finals games will tip off at either 12:30 p.m. or 5 p.m. PT.
Finals tickets go on sale starting Monday, Oct. 12, the Valkyries said.
Williams has been the team's top scorer in both playoff series so far, averaging 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4 assists this postseason.