Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon gave a blunt assessment of her team's performance following their 71-60 Game 1 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday to drop to 0-1 in the WNBA playoff semifinal series.
"I think that was one of our more atrocious games of the season," Hammon said in her postgame remarks, pointing to the Aces' getting outrebounded by the Valkyries, 52-25. "It's a good news, bad news. Good news is we played like (expletive) and only lost by 10. So dissect that however you want."
The No. 3 seed Aces will look to even the best-of-five semifinal series against the No. 2 seed Valkyries during Game 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Bad news: The shorthanded Aces took another hit after Jewell Loyd (left
leg) exited Game 1, further depleting Las Vegas' depth with NaLyssa Smith (left leg) out for the season and Stephanie Talbot (leg) and Dana Evans (right knee) managing injuries. Loyd and Evans were listed as doubtful for Game 2. Good news: Talbot waslisted as questionable on the injury report Tuesday, meaning she could play on Wednesday.
Gabby Williams has been the engine for the Valkyries all season and Sunday was no different. Williams had a game-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in their Game 1 win. Golden State's league-leading bench added 25 points, compared to seven bench points from the shorthanded Aces.
A'ja Wilson had 24 points (8-of-21 FG) and four rebounds in the Aces' Game 1 loss. Chelsea Gray added 16 points and four rebound. Jackie Young had 11 points in Las Vegas' lowest-scoring game of the season.
USA TODAY Sports is providing live coverage of Game 2 of the WNBA playoff semifinal series between the Golden State Valkyries and Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday. Here's everything you need to know:
WNBA playoffs: Aces vs Valkyries semifinal schedule
09:30 PM ET, October 6 2026- Game 1: Valkyries 71, Aces 60
- Game 2: Aces at Valkyries, 9:30 p.m. ET, Wednesday (NBC/Peacock)
- Game 3: Valkyries at Aces, 9:30 p.m. ET, Friday (NBC/Peacock)
- Game 4: Valkyries at Aces, TBD, Sunday (NBC/Peacock)*
- Game 5: Aces at Valkyries, TBD, Wednesday (NBC/Peacock)*
*if necessary
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Golden State Valkyries vs Las Vegas Aces WNBA playoffs: Time, channel, how to watch
