SAN FRANCISCO ― The question for the Golden State Valkyries entering the WNBA playoffs was where points would come from.
The Valkyries responded to those doubts by scoring the most points in their franchise history in a 104-80 win in Game 1 of their 2026 WNBA first-round playoff series against the Dallas Wings on Sunday, Sept. 27 at Chase Center in San Francisco.
A day before the Valkyries took the court in the first round of the playoffs, head coach Natalie Nakase emphasized that they would need contributions from everyone on offense. The Valks answered with five players scoring in double-figures, including three scoring at least 20 points.
"Everybody," Nakase told USA TODAY Sports on players stepping up on offense. "Again, the way our defense
can be a little bit out of stickiness is getting stops, so we're pushing it in transition. Like that's our biggest thing. Is if we want to flow more, then we got to get stops. ... we know we can control our defense. We don't know sometimes if we're going to shoot a high percentage, so we rely on that physicality, that lock-in, and then we're going the other way."
They did both on Sunday night against the Wings. They demonstrated why they were the No. 1-ranked defensive team in the WNBA during the regular season. They showed the Wings what it's like to take a visit to "Valkatraz."
As a team, the Valkyries forced the Wings to 10 turnovers, and scored 15 points off of those giveaways. Golden State held Dallas to 30% shooting from the field, but its most spectacular quarter defensively, was in the second period when the Valkyries held the Wings to 11 points, while scoring 37 points in the quarter.
"We didn't get stops and they got whatever they wanted offensively," Wings guard Paige Bueckers told reporters after the game. "A 37-point quarter is insane work so it was just not sticking to our gameplan, not locking in defensively. It starts with me so I gotta be better, I know that."
Bueckers had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting, but had to work for every last one of her buckets as more than 18,000 packed Chase Center. Everyone in Ballhalla let their battle cry be heard and the Valkyries responded to the energy that filled Chase Center.
Gabby Williams scored 20 points on 50% shooting. But it was a complete team effort. Cecilia Zandalasini scored a team-high 22 points including hitting four 3-point shots in under 16 minutes. Tiffany Hayes came off the bench and scored 21 points to help lead the Valkyries to their Game 1 win against the Wings.
"Yeah, obviously, we wanted to start well and set the tone for the rest of the series," Williams told reporters after the game. "I think what was great about tonight was watching every single person contribute and seeing everyone get going."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Valkyries set franchise-record in points scored taking Game 1 vs Wings
