Valkyries vs. Wings: Gabby Williams Caps 16-Point Comeback as Golden State Wins First Round Game 3

Two nights after Arike Ogunbowale dropped 45 on them, the Golden State Valkyries were staring at a 53-37 hole in a win-or-go-home Game 3. Dallas had just ripped off 20 straight points across halftime, and the franchise's first playoff series win was drifting out of view.

Then Gabby Williams took over. Williams scored all but two of her 19 points after halftime, including the go-ahead 17-footer with 1:17 left, and the Valkyries finished a 16-point comeback to beat the Dallas Wings 77-73 on Friday night at Chase Center in San Francisco. Golden State won the best-of-three first-round series 2-1 and moves on to the semifinals.

Twenty Straight Points the Wrong Way

Dallas had the better of the first half, winning the opening quarter 19-14, but Golden State actually led 37-33 with 1:59 left in the second. Then the Valkyries' offense went missing. The Wings ran off 20 consecutive points spanning halftime, and Golden State began the third quarter 0 for 9 from the floor, with three straight misses from deep among them. When the dust settled, it was 53-37 with 6:02 left in the third, the Wings' largest lead of the night.

It was the kind of stretch that makes a home crowd start doing math on the offseason. Dallas led 44-37 at the break and looked like the team carrying the momentum from Wednesday's overtime win in Arlington.

The Slow Climb Back

Williams lit the fuse. She hit two 3-pointers late in the third quarter, and Golden State got within 59-54 heading into the fourth. Veronica Burton's layup with 8:19 left made it 61-59, Kaila Charles drilled a tying 3 with 6:51 to go, and a Burton running layup off a Kiah Stokes assist put the Valkyries ahead 67-65 with 4:56 left.

Ogunbowale was not done, because she is never done. She answered with a 29-foot 3, two free throws and a 13-foot floater at 3:13, seven straight points that put Dallas back in front 72-67. At that point, Ogunbowale looked ready to author the sequel to Wednesday.

Gabby Time

What followed was an 8-0 Golden State finish. Charles scored inside at 2:14 to make it 72-69. Williams took it from there: a driving layup at 1:40, then the 17-foot pull-up off a Burton feed at 1:17 for a 73-72 lead.

The final 13.1 seconds were pure chaos. Golden State was clinging to a one-point lead when Williams chased down her own missed shot, leaping back inbounds to save it, but the officials initially gave the ball to Dallas. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase challenged the call and won it, and Golden State kept possession. Williams made two free throws with 9.6 seconds left, Alysha Clark made one for Dallas, and Williams sank two more at 6.9 seconds to seal it. She scored Golden State's final eight points, and Dallas did not make a field goal after Ogunbowale's floater at 3:13.

Replay had already played a starring role in Game 2, when a reversed offensive foul on a Williams inbound turned the end of regulation into a jump ball. On Friday, the review gave the Valkyries the ball and, a few seconds later, the series.

Williams Shoots, Burton Does Everything

Williams was not efficient, shooting 6 of 17, but she was decisive: 3 of 6 from 3, 4 of 4 at the line and most of the big shots Golden State needed. Burton was the engine, posting 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, with five of those boards on the offensive end. Tiffany Hayes scored 18 off the bench and finished a game-best plus-15. Stokes pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked three shots, and Charles added 10 points.

For Dallas, Ogunbowale scored 30 on 11-of-21 shooting to follow her 45-point night, and she was the one Wing who consistently got to her spots. Paige Bueckers had 17 points and six assists but shot 3 of 14, rescuing her line by going 10 of 10 at the line. Jessica Shepard put up 12 points and 12 rebounds in 40 minutes.

One Challenge, One Season

The game turned on the challenge with 13.1 seconds left. If the original call stands, Dallas has the ball down one with a chance to take the lead and, quite possibly, the series. Instead, Golden State kept it, Williams went to the line twice, and the Wings never again had the ball with a chance to take the lead. One review, one season decided. Nakase's decision to challenge was as big as any shot Williams made.

The Comeback, by the Numbers

• 14-6: Golden State's edge on the offensive glass, part of a 40-36 rebounding advantage.
• 77 to 59: Field goal attempts, Golden State over Dallas, the payoff of all those second chances.
• 6: Golden State turnovers in a 40-minute elimination game.
• 10-2: The Valkyries' advantage in fast-break points.
• 20-0: The Dallas run that built the 16-point lead the Valkyries erased.

Ballhalla Gets a Semifinal

History, for starters. Per the AP, no Golden State team had ever won a playoff series before Friday, and this one came as the No. 2 seed. A year earlier, the franchise had already made league history as the first expansion team to qualify for the playoffs in its inaugural season. Now there is a second chapter. The Valkyries are 2-0 at home this postseason.

Next up is the best-of-five semifinals against the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, with Game 1 on Sunday at Chase Center. That matchup comes with homework: Las Vegas won all three regular-season meetings between the teams.

Dallas, the seventh seed, goes home after a series in which it pushed the No. 2 seed to the final minute. The Wings had won seven of their last eight regular-season games to get here, and Ogunbowale's Game 2 will live in the record book.

It's Over, We're So Back

Before tipoff, Nakase put the bar somewhere in the stratosphere.

"We made a promise to ourselves we are going to play the best four quarters of our lives," she said.

They did not, technically. They spent the end of the first half and the start of the third looking lost, then played the rest like a team that meant every word. But the internet has a meme for exactly this arc: it's over at 53-37, we're so back at 77-73. Golden State lived both halves of it in one night, and now gets the champs.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details and quotes as reported by the Associated Press via WNBA.com.