Las Vegas Aces vs Golden State Valkyries - WNBA Playoffs - Semifinals - Game 1 - 2026 | Boxed Out

Game Summary: Las Vegas Aces vs Golden State Valkyries

First Quarter

For ten minutes this looked like a shootout. Young picked off Stokes on the first possession, Gray opened the scoring with a 24-foot three off a Loyd feed, and Wilson came out ballin’. She hit a 21-footer, a 13-foot step-back and a 15-foot pull-up off a Young assist, and an 11-8 lead at 5:15 forced a Golden State timeout.

Williams answered everything. She hit two 25-foot threes and a 12-foot pull-up, and Kayla Thornton buried a three off a Stokes assist for a 13-11 Valkyries lead. Wilson tied it at the line, and Young drilled a 26-footer at 3:10 for a 16-13 lead to finish a 9-5 Aces run.

That’s when the glass started changing this game. Stokes grabbed four offensive rebounds in the quarter alone, and Golden State closed on a 9-2 run with five free throws. Wilson’s 16-foot turnaround off Jackie Young’s fourth assist made it 18-17 at 1:25, but Williams converted a three-point play and two more free throws after a Gray turnover for a 22-18 lead.

The Aces shot 7 of 14 and still lost the quarter because Golden State got 18 shots to their 14 and grabbed 6 offensive boards. All seven lead changes and all three ties came in these ten minutes. Williams had 13, and A’ja Wilson had 10, both on 4-of-5 shooting.

Second Quarter

Golden State took control right out of the break. Tiffany Hayes picked off a Brianna Turner pass, Kaitlyn Chen buried a 25-foot three on the other end, and Aminata Gueye scored inside for a 27-18 lead. Kierstan Bell answered off the bench with a 23-foot three and a block on Chen, but Gabby Williams scored on a running layup, and Becky Hammon called a timeout at 6:27, down 29-21.

Gray scored on a layup, Williams answered with a 25-foot three for a 32-23 lead at 5:43, and Veronica Burton‘s 9-foot pull-up made it 34-23, Golden State’s first double-digit lead. The Aces went 2 of 8 from the floor during that 12-5 stretch.

Kiah Stokes was a wall. She blocked Wilson twice in 45 seconds. Then the Aces got stops. Wilson picked off Burton, Young hit a 24-foot three off a Turner assist at 1:42, and Wilson made a free throw and buried an 11-foot turnaround with 36.3 seconds left. That 8-0 run cut it to 34-31 at the half.

Nobody could shoot tonight, though. Las Vegas went 5 of 16, and Golden State went 5 of 17 in the quarter, both 2 of 5 from deep. A’ja Wilson went to the locker room with 15 points on 6 of 11, and Williams had 18 on 6 of 10.

Third Quarter

Both teams came out of the half cold. Golden State started 1 of 4, and the Aces started 0 of 5 before Chelsea Gray hit a 26-footer off a Turner feed at 7:06 to make it 36-34. Las Vegas never got closer.

The Valkyries punched right back. Cecilia Zandalasini buried a 27-foot three, Chen scored on a drive, and Hammon used another timeout down 41-34. Gray hit another 25-footer, but Chen and Thornton pushed it back to eight. At 4:10, Gray found Wilson for an 11-foot turnaround, and Wilson finished the three-point play. That dish was assist No. 411 of Gray’s playoff career, passing Alyssa Thomas for the most in WNBA playoff history.

The celebration did not last. Gueye scored on a layup, Williams hit an 18-footer, and Gueye converted a three-point play at 2:21 for a 52-42 lead. Las Vegas forced three straight turnovers after that, and Chelsea Gray cashed in for four points, but Gueye and Kaila Charles answered, and Mai Yamamoto‘s layup off a Gray feed made it 56-48 after three.

The Aces shot 5 of 19 to Golden State’s 9 of 17. Gray scored 10 of the Aces’ 17 points. Aminata Gueye, who signed with the Valkyries on Sept. 20, had 7. Loyd went to the locker room with a left leg injury and did not come back.

Fourth Quarter

Hayes opened the fourth with a floater for a 58-48 lead, and the Aces made one last real push. Wilson hit a 10-footer off a Young feed, Bell picked off Hayes, and Young drilled a 27-foot three off a Yamamoto assist at 8:25. Five straight points, and it was 58-53.

Golden State answered with six straight. Bummer.  Hayes made a free throw, Gabby Williams buried a 27-foot step-back three, and Kaitlyn Chen scored from six feet at 6:56 for a 64-53 lead that sent a frustrated Coach Hammon to another timeout. Jackie Young scored inside out of it, Gray made a free throw, and A’ja Wilson’s two free throws at 4:44 cut it to 65-58.

That was the last Las Vegas point for almost four minutes. Thornton, who had three offensive rebounds in the quarter, scored on a running layup. Golden State won another challenge at 2:58; Chen blocked Yamamoto at the rim, and Williams and Chen scored on back-to-back drives for a 71-58 lead with two minutes left. Stokes added her fourth block on Kalani Brown before Brown scored the final bucket with 53.4 seconds left.

The Aces went 4 of 13 in the quarter, and Golden State grabbed five more offensive rebounds. Young and Williams led their teams with 5 points apiece in the fourth.

Bottom Line

The bottom line: Las Vegas can survive a 34 percent shooting day. It cannot survive a 52-25 rebounding margin. We gotta do better. The 27-board gap was the worst in franchise history, and Golden State’s 52 rebounds were a franchise record and the third-most in WNBA postseason history. The Valkyries also won the paint 34-18, and their bench outscored the Aces’ bench 27-7. Las Vegas did take care of the ball, with 6 turnovers, even though Golden State had 14, and the Valkyries made just 7 threes after averaging 11.5 a game in the playoffs. That is why this was an 11-point game and not a blowout.

Chelsea Gray made history on a bad afternoon. Beyond the assists record, her three threes moved her past Hammon, her own head coach, into No. 3 on the league’s playoff three-point list, and her 362 playoff field goals tie Seimone Augustus for No. 8 all-time. Young passed Kristi Toliver for No. 9 in playoff threes with 92, still the most in Aces history. Wilson scored 20 or more for the 10th straight playoff game, tying Breanna Stewart for the longest streak in league postseason history, and she has now reached double figures in 38 straight playoff games.

The Aces were already without Dana Evans (right knee) and Stephanie Talbot (left knee). Now Loyd’s status is the question heading into Wednesday. Follow the series on the FSM Las Vegas Aces hub.

Post-Game

Becky Hammon did not need long to diagnose it: “We lost the game on the boards, no question about that,” she said.

“I thought that was one of our more atrocious games of the season,” Hammon added. “All we talked about for the last 48 hours was rebounding and blocking them out, and we did not do it.”

Gray on what flips the series: “You take away even half of their second-chance points, and it’s a different ball game. We still didn’t play that well on the offensive end. We missed some shots that we normally make. But we have to move their defense a little bit better offensively as well.”

Gabby Williams handed the credit to her frontcourt: “I said after the game that KT and Kiah really won this game for us, limited them to one possession and gave us extra possessions.”

Stokes kept it in perspective: “The goal here is to win our home games, so yes, we did well for the first game, but the Aces are championship-caliber; they know what it takes to win.” (Quotes via the Associated Press and The Sporting Tribune.)

TOP PERFORMERS

TEAM STATS

Points in the Paint: LVA 18, GSV 34 | Second Chance: LVA 5, GSV 20 | Fast Break: LVA 3, GSV 8 | Off Turnovers: LVA 11, GSV 11 | Bench: LVA 7, GSV 27

Next up: WNBA Semifinals Game 2 at the Golden State Valkyries, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6:30 p.m. PT, Chase Center, San Francisco (Peacock, NBCSN). Game 3 is Friday, Oct. 9, 6:30 p.m. PT at Michelob ULTRA Arena (Peacock, NBCSN).

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