SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gabby Williams scored 19 points and hit a go-ahead 17-footer with 1:17 remaining, and the Golden State Valkyries won a late replay review to finish a rally from 16 points down and beat the Dallas Wings 77-73 on Friday night in a wild deciding Game 3 of their first-round WNBA playoff series.
With 13.1 seconds left and Golden State leading by one, Williams jumped back inbounds to corral her own miss on a play that was originally ruled Dallas’ ball, but Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase — who moments earlier had fallen to her knees on the sideline before being helped up — successfully challenged the call. Nakase walked off the court escorted by a member of her staff after the final buzzer, holding her face as the team celebrated at midcourt.
Arike Ogunbowale knocked down an off-balance jumper with 3:13 to play that put Dallas up by five and finished with 30 points to follow up a 45-point performance in the Wings’ overtime win Wednesday night at home.
Williams scored all but two of her points after halftime. Veronica Burton had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Burton’s layup with 8:19 to play pulled the Valkyries within 61-59, Williams hit two 3-pointers late in the third and they both willed Golden State into the best-of-five semifinals against the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.
Game 1 is Sunday at rocking Ballhalla with the team’s deafening, violet-crazed home crowd at Chase Center.
Tiffany Hayes scored 18 points off the bench, Kaila Charles hit a tying 3-pointer with 6:51 left and Kiah Stokes pulled down 13 rebounds.
The second-seeded Valkyries won a playoff series for the first time. Last year, they became the first expansion team to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season.
Paige Bueckers had 17 points with six assists but shot only 3 for 14 for Dallas, making all 10 of her free throws.
The Valkyries missed three straight 3s and nine shots in a row overall to start the third quarter as Dallas used a 9-0 run to take its largest lead at 53-37. Golden State pulled within 59-54 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Ogunbowale was 11 for 21 after scoring a playoff-record 45 points in the Wings’ 108-100 overtime win Wednesday night.
That prompted Nakase to declare before the game: “We made a promise to ourselves we are going to play the best four quarters of our lives.”
She said the Valkyries didn’t recognize themselves that game — even though the team had scored 100 or more points in the first two matchups, including 104-80 in the series opener last Sunday.
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