The defending champions walked into Ballhalla and got buried by a team that was not supposed to be here yet.
The No. 2 seed Golden State Valkyries beat the Las Vegas Aces 71-60 in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series on Sunday at Chase Center in San Francisco, taking a 1-0 lead over the team that swept them 3-0 in the regular season.
Gabby Williams was the engine. The veteran guard poured in 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists, scoring 18 of her points in the first half as “Gabby! Gabby!” chants rained down from a sellout crowd dressed in lavender “We Are Ballhalla” shirts.
“Growing up here and knowing what this community is about — seeing it at this level means everything,” Williams said afterward. “It just feels like a big party.”
It was a party the Aces could not get into. Las Vegas was held to a season-low 60 points and crushed on the glass 52-25. Golden State grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to the Aces’ two — Las Vegas did not secure a single offensive board until roughly two minutes into the second half.
A’ja Wilson managed 24 points but needed 21 shots to get there, shooting 8-for-21 with Kiah Stokes shadowing her on nearly every touch. Stokes, who won three championships with the Aces, finished with 14 rebounds and three blocks against her old team.
“They know what it takes to win,” Stokes said of Las Vegas. “Their whole goal is to come to our house and still win games. Going forward we know that we need to come out on Wednesday and make sure we set the tone again.”
The one bright spot for Las Vegas was Chelsea Gray, who scored 16 points and passed Alyssa Thomas to become the WNBA’s all-time playoff assist leader, with 411 career playoff assists and counting.
But the Aces’ injury crisis got worse. Guard Jewell Loyd, who had been crucial in closing out the Indiana Fever in the first round, left early in the third quarter with a left leg injury and did not return. She finished scoreless in her minutes before the exit, going 0-for-2. Las Vegas was already playing without NaLyssa Smith, Stephanie Talbot and Dana Evans, and head coach Becky Hammon had no update on Loyd afterward.
Hammon’s postgame verdict was characteristically blunt: her team played terribly and still only lost by 10. “Dissect that however you want.”
The Valkyries, meanwhile, keep stacking history. Just 36 hours after clinching the franchise’s first playoff series with a 77-73 comeback win over Dallas, the second-year expansion team is two wins from a Finals berth. Head coach Natalie Nakase, who went down on the sideline in Friday’s clincher, was examined Saturday and back on the bench Sunday.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at Chase Center. The Aces, in the semifinals for the eighth straight season, are running out of healthy bodies — and running out of time to figure out the Valkyries’ defense.