Valkyries vs. Aces: Golden State Sweeps Las Vegas in Overtime of Semifinals Game 3 to Reach WNBA Finals

The house always wins in Las Vegas. On Friday night, the house got swept.

The Golden State Valkyries erased a nine-point halftime deficit, forced overtime with a late 8-0 run and then owned the extra period, beating the Las Vegas Aces 87-77 in Game 3 of the WNBA Semifinals at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Golden State wins the series 3-0, and the second-year Valkyries are now, per the Associated Press, the quickest expansion team to make the WNBA Finals. They did it by sweeping the defending champions, a franchise that had won three of the past four titles.

Down Nine, Then a 17-0 Avalanche

Las Vegas controlled the first half. The Aces led 19-16 after one quarter and 45-36 at halftime, and they pushed the lead to 11 early in the third at 47-36. A'ja Wilson, honored before the game for winning what the AP described as an unprecedented fifth MVP, was on the floor, the Aces looked comfortable, and a Game 4 felt inevitable.

Then Golden State went on a 17-0 run. Starting at 7:56 of the third quarter and lasting until 2:24, the Valkyries turned an 11-point deficit into a 53-47 lead, their first lead of the night. Las Vegas scored only seven points in the entire third quarter and still closed within 53-52 by the end of it, which tells you just how stuck both offenses were for stretches.

The Fourth Quarter Turns Into a Thriller

The Aces regained control late. Jackie Young went 2 for 2 at the line, and Wilson's layup with 3:08 left gave Las Vegas a 69-63 lead. The Valkyries had a little over three minutes to avoid a Game 4.

They needed only about two of them. Veronica Burton hit two free throws at 2:51, and Kiah Stokes scored on a 4-foot layup off a Gabby Williams feed at 2:17. Then came the play of the night. Williams picked Wilson's pocket, Kayla Thornton beat everyone down the floor, and her layup with 1:50 left knotted it at 69. Burton's 9-footer at 1:12 gave Golden State a 71-69 lead, completing an 8-0 run. Young answered with a layup off a Chelsea Gray assist with 26.6 seconds left, and it went to overtime tied at 71.

Overtime Belonged to Golden State

The extra period was not close. Tiffany Hayes opened it with a driving layup, Williams added another, and after Gray cut it to 75-73, the Valkyries went on another 8-0 run. Hayes scored from 5 feet, Williams made two free throws, Williams hit an 18-foot step-back off a Stokes assist, and Williams made two more free throws to make it 83-73 with 46.9 seconds left. Thornton finished it from the line, going 4 for 4 in the final 35 seconds. Golden State won the overtime 16-6, and Williams scored eight of her 16 points in it.

Thornton, Stokes and a Pair of Former Aces

Thornton led Golden State with 18 points, going 5 of 12 from the field, 2 of 6 from 3 and 6 of 7 at the line, with nine rebounds, four of them offensive. Stokes, a former Ace, was perfect from the field, going 5 of 5 for 11 points with 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals and a plus-18. Hayes, another former Ace, scored 11 with six rebounds and four assists, and she finished with a team-best plus-20.

Williams scored 16 on 6-of-16 shooting with three assists and three steals, and Burton added eight points, six rebounds and four assists. Ten Valkyries played and nine of them scored. Cecilia Zandalasini added seven points and three steals, Kaila Charles scored seven, and Kaitlyn Chen went 2 for 2 for six points.

How does a team that trailed by 11 on the road win by 10? It does the dirty work. Golden State won the boards 43-35, scored 40 points in the paint to the Aces' 32, forced 15 turnovers and outscored Las Vegas 11-5 on the fast break.

For Las Vegas, Wilson scored 21 points with 10 rebounds in 43 minutes, but she needed 19 shots to get there and made only six. Per the AP, the 1,300-point, 600-rebound postseason club now has two members: Wilson and DeWanna Bonner. Wilson did go 8 of 11 at the line. Young scored 18 and Gray added 17, but they combined for 11 turnovers. Kalani Brown chipped in eight points and eight rebounds, Dana Evans scored eight off the bench, and Jewell Loyd was held to three.

The Sweep in Five Numbers

• 17-0: Golden State's third-quarter run, the swing that turned the game.
• 16-6: The overtime score.
• 12 to 3: Golden State's edge in steals.
• 17: Points Golden State scored off 15 Las Vegas turnovers.
• 20 of 22: Golden State's free throw shooting, with eight makes in overtime alone.

Next Stop, the Finals

Golden State is headed to the WNBA Finals, and it gets home-court advantage as the No. 2 seed against No. 4 Atlanta, which swept New York earlier in the night with an 85-83 win. The best-of-seven Finals begin Oct. 17 in San Francisco. One of the two franchises will win its first title.

By our count of the results, the Valkyries have won four straight playoff games and are 5-1 in the postseason after beating Dallas 2-1 in the first round and sweeping Las Vegas 3-0. This sweep came after the Aces won all three regular-season meetings, and it included a 71-60 win in Game 1 and an 83-81 nail-biter in Game 2 before Friday's overtime thriller.

For Las Vegas, the season ends with a sweep. A franchise built to collect rings got outhustled by a team that did not play a game until last season.

The House Lost

This is how you know a team has arrived: it stops caring who the other team is. Golden State walked into the arena of the defending champs, fell behind by 11 against a five-time MVP and still left with the series. The Valkyries are the expansion team that refuses to play like one, and now they get four more wins to see if the fairy tale has a real ending.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Historical notes as reported by the Associated Press via WNBA.com.