Valkyries vs. Wings: Golden State Dishes Franchise-High 27 Assists as Veronica Burton Scores 22 in 94-76 Win

Paige Bueckers hit her first two shots on Friday night, both from behind the arc, and the Dallas Wings led 6-0 in front of 16,444 at American Airlines Center. It was a terrific trailer. The actual movie turned out to be two hours of the Golden State Valkyries passing the ball to whoever was open.

Veronica Burton scored 22 with seven assists and no turnovers, Gabby Williams added 19, and the Valkyries dished out a franchise-high 27 assists in a 94-76 win that was never in serious doubt after halftime. Golden State has won three straight and nine of its last 11, and it did this one on a night it could not buy a 3 for 20 minutes.

From 6-0 Down to Up 20

Dallas' hot start lasted about as long as it took Tiffany Hayes to find the free-throw line. She drew eight attempts in the opening quarter and scored nine, and those turned out to be all of her points for the night. Bueckers had 11 in the period, per the team and the play-by-play, but the rest of the Wings shot 1 of 12, and Golden State went up 26-21.

Then came a second quarter for the Williams highlight reel. She scored 10 in the frame, including a three-point play off a fadeaway, and closed the half with a contested 3 with 3.2 seconds on the clock for a 44-36 lead. The Valkyries were only 4 of 19 from deep at that point, according to the team. They led anyway because they were outscoring Dallas 20-8 in the paint and outrebounding the Wings 25-16.

The third quarter ended the discussion. Golden State opened with a 10-2 run, half of it from Kiah Stokes, and later ripped off eight straight to go from 64-52 to 72-52. It finished the period up 74-58. Burton added some salt in the fourth with a 30-foot 3 off a Hayes pass, then an and-one at the rim, and Kayla Thornton's late corner 3 made it 92-74.

Burton Runs the Show

Burton's line was tidy to the point of being rude: 8 of 13 from the field, 3 of 3 at the line, four rebounds, seven assists and zero turnovers in 30 minutes. The team says it was her second straight game with at least 10 points, five assists and no turnovers, a first in her career. Point guards spend years chasing that kind of control.

Williams was the other engine, scoring 19 on 8-of-18 shooting with four assists and also no turnovers. Between the two of them, the Valkyries' primary ball-handlers took care of everything and gave Dallas almost nothing to run off.

Thornton's night had some extra meaning. She had 11 points and 10 rebounds, her first double-double of the season, and that late 3 got her to 2,500 career points, the Valkyries say, against the franchise she spent six seasons with. Stokes had seven points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a plus-21 that led everybody. Kaila Charles chipped in nine points and three steals, and Kaitlyn Chen handed out five assists in 12 minutes.

The Wings were short a piece, with Azzi Fudd warming up but then being ruled out because of right knee soreness. Bueckers finished with 17 on 6-of-12 shooting, the AP noting it was the fourth time this season she has reached double digits in the first quarter. She scored just six after that. Aziaha James had 13 but needed 12 shots and 11 free throws to get there, Alanna Smith scored 11, Jessica Shepard grabbed 11 rebounds, and Arike Ogunbowale had a night to forget at 2 of 10 for five points.

The Minute That Bridged Halftime

Dallas trailed just 41-36 with 3.2 seconds left in the second quarter. Williams' 3 made it eight, and Golden State scored the first five of the third to make it 49-36 with 9:02 left, an 8-0 swing across about a minute of game clock. Everything the Wings had built by hanging around for 20 minutes was gone almost before they had settled back in. The Valkyries then shot like a different team, hitting 8 of 15 from 3 after that 4-of-19 first half.

Stats That Matter

• Assists: Golden State 27, Dallas 8. Seven Valkyries had at least two, per the team.
• Field goals: Dallas shot 21 of 62, or 34 percent, which the Valkyries call a season low for the Wings.
• Free throws: Dallas took 38 to Golden State's 18 and still lost by 18.
• Fast-break points: Golden State 15, Dallas 5.
• Turnovers: Dallas 13, Golden State 8.

Keeping Pace and Losing Ground

Golden State is 22-9 overall and 9-5 on the road. The team says it has now won six of its last seven away from home, reached 20 assists in five straight games and 15 times overall, and sits one win shy of last year's total. By the Valkyries' count, they are also keeping pace with Las Vegas for the league's second-best record and need five more wins to clinch a playoff spot. Next is a Sunday trip to Los Angeles.

Dallas fell to 19-13 and 9-6 at home, with two straight losses and four in its last five. The Wings are now 0-2 against Golden State this season, and they visit Minnesota on Sunday. They also got a look at their future: the AP says this arena, home of the NBA's Mavericks, will host their home games in 2027.

The Group Project That Actually Worked

Everybody has been in a group project where one person does the whole thing while four others make vague promises in the chat. That was Dallas' first quarter, with Bueckers at 11 and the rest of the group at 1 of 12. Golden State is the unicorn version, the project where seven people show up, everyone handles a section and nobody asks who is presenting. Twenty-seven assists on 33 made field goals is not a stat. It is a work culture.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Golden State Valkyries.