In the opening game of a best-of-five semifinal series, the Golden State Valkyries emerged victorious against the reigning champions, Las Vegas Aces, with a 71-60 win. This victory provided the Valkyries a 1-0 lead in the series.
WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson delivered a solid performance with 24 points; however, she secured only four rebounds. Throughout the game, Golden State dominated the battle on the boards.
The Valkyries succeeded in restricting Las Vegas to 33.7% shooting. Gabby Williams shone brightly, contributing 25 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists to the win. Despite the loss, Aces coach Becky Hammon expressed a cautiously optimistic outlook as they look forward to the rest of the series.
“I thought that was one of our more atrocious games of the season. I think we shot ourselves in the foot and got outhustled,” commented Hammon following the match, which also saw Aces guard Jewell Loyd incur a ‘lower leg injury.’
Hammon further noted discussions with her team on critical skills like rebounding and boxing out, which weren’t effectively executed in Game 1.
“I could end this whole thing right now. Don’t ask me about the game. It’s rebounding that was it,” she asserted.
The Valkyries outperformed the Aces on rebounds, 52-25, with significant contributions from three players. Alongside Williams, Kiah Stokes grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, while Kayla Thornton added 11 rebounds.
During the previous season, the Aces ranked seventh in rebounding with an average of 33.4 per game, tying with the Indiana Fever. The Valkyries followed closely at ninth place, averaging 33.3 rebounds per game.
Hammon described the team’s Game 1 loss as a “good news bad news” situation as they ready themselves for the upcoming matches. She remarked, “Good news is we played like [expletive] and only lost by 10. So dissect that however you want,” before concluding her media session.
Las Vegas aims to recover in Game 2, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
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