In only its second year as a franchise, the Golden State Valkyries are headed to the WNBA Finals, led by head coach Natalie Nakase.
The UCLA alumna guided the Bay Area's squad to a sweep of the reigning WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces, whom she previously served as an assistant for the Golden State wrapped up the series with an 87-77 overtime victory on Friday night.
"I’m really proud. I told them that I was proud of our whole team, all 14, because I saw another fight tonight, and that's what I was really proud of," Nakase said postgame. "We talked about leveling up one more as a team, and I think that overtime proved strength in numbers. We really left it all out there on the floor. We really emptied the tank, and so having a successful overtime just
showed that strength in numbers was key for us tonight.
"If you put in the amount of time that we have, big dreams, this is a dream come true to be going to the Finals in our second year."
The Valkyries will host the Atlanta Dream at Chase Center for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Oct. 17 at 12:30 p.m.
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This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA alumna Natalie Nakase leads Golden State Valkyries to WNBA Finals
