The Golden State Valkyries clinched a playoff spot on Monday night. For a few minutes in the second quarter, that outcome looked far from guaranteed.
The Dallas Wings came out hot at Chase Center, jumping ahead 15-8 behind quick shooting from Alanna Smith. As the first quarter wound down, Gabby Williams pulled aside during a sideline interview and didn’t sugarcoat what she saw.
“We suck right now,” Williams said. “Their pace is too much. We need to slow them down. We need to pick them up higher.”
“We suck right now. Their pace is too much. We need to slow them down.”
Gabby Williams wants her Valkyries to step it up against the Wings. 👀 pic.twitter.com/cGdTeMpgEb
— WNBA on NBC and Peacock (@WNBAonNBC) August 18, 2026
Golden State answered immediately. Tiffany Hayes buried a logo three at the buzzer to close the first quarter, and the Valkyries turned that spark into an 18-3 run to end the first half. They held Dallas to just nine points in the second quarter alone, building a 44-28 lead they never gave back.
Williams backed up her own words with a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals. She’s the odds-on favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, and Monday’s performance did nothing to hurt that case. Her remarkable performances have been nothing but consistent since May. Veronica Burton added 16 points, and five assists, hitting three 3-pointers in that decisive second quarter alone.
The final score read 78-70, Golden State’s sixth straight win. It also locked up a playoff berth in just the franchise’s second season, making the Valkyries the third team to clinch this year behind the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces. It’s also the franchise’s second straight postseason trip, a rare feat for a team that didn’t exist before 2025.
Williams didn’t downplay the moment afterward.
“I’m more excited just about how we’ve done it more than us doing it,” she said. “I knew we were going to do it since I got here, but I didn’t expect us to do it this way and have this much fun. Every game I go into, I have zero doubt because I know some way we’re going to figure it out.”
Warriors star Stephen Curry watched from courtside and liked what he saw.
“They seem like they have great chemistry. It’s great to watch,” Curry said. “When everything’s going great, and the energy is right, it’s kind of contagious.”
Dallas didn’t fold quietly. Paige Bueckers struggled through a 1-7 first half before erupting for 21 points overall, and the Wings outscored Golden State 24-12 in the fourth quarter to make the final margin respectable. But seven turnovers from Bueckers and a brutal 5-21 night from three-point range made the early hole impossible to escape. Dallas has now lost five of its last six games and sits eighth in the standings.
Gabby Williams Set The Tone The Valkyries Have Built Around
What made Williams’ comment stand out wasn’t the honesty. It was the timing. Plenty of players vent about slow starts after the final buzzer, when the outcome is already settled. Williams said it live, mid-game, with the score still uncertain and the fix still theirs to make.
Golden State’s response backed up every word. The bench outscored Dallas’ reserves 27-12, with Janelle Salaun and Hayes combining for 20 points off the pine. Head coach Natalie Nakase’s team forced 18 turnovers and scored 20 points directly off them, the kind of defensive identity that has carried this roster since its inaugural season.
That identity is why 25-9 feels less like a surprise and more like confirmation. The Valkyries reached the playoffs as an expansion team last year and pushed the top-seeded Lynx to a deciding game. This year’s group has a deeper bench, a healthier Kiah Stokes back from the concussion protocol, and a leader willing to call out her own team in real time when something looks off.
Golden State faces Minnesota on Wednesday with a chance to further separate itself in the standings. Dallas, meanwhile, heads to Indiana on Thursday needing answers before the losses pile up any higher. One team is playing with house money. The other is running out of time to figure out why its early leads keep disappearing.
