For a second-year franchise, Friday night is already historic before the first tip. The Golden State Valkyries host the Dallas Wings in a winner-take-all Game 3 at Chase Center at 6 p.m. Pacific on ESPN2, with the club's first playoff series victory - and a semifinal date with the Las Vegas Aces - on the other side of 40 minutes.
The series is tied 1-1 after Dallas' 108-100 overtime win Wednesday in Arlington, where Arike Ogunbowale scored a WNBA playoff-record 45 points. Golden State took Game 1 in San Francisco, 104-80, on Sept. 27. ESPN's Kendra Andrews wrote that what is at stake Friday is either the Valkyries' first series win or the Wings' first semifinal trip since 2023.
Chase Center's regular-season crowds now get the loudest night the young franchise has staged.
Why home court still favors Golden State
The Valkyries went 17-5 at home in the regular season, best in the WNBA, and led the league in attendance for two straight years, per ESPN. Dallas is 0-3 at Chase Center this season.
Last postseason, an arena conflict pushed Golden State's only home playoff game to San Jose; Natalie Nakase said fans traveled, but Andrews noted nothing quite matches the San Francisco building the club calls Ballhalla. This year the decider is back where the regular-season edge was built.
That edge took a dent Wednesday. Golden State allowed 108 points, its season high, and Ogunbowale got to the line 18 times. Gabby Williams scored a career-high 36 and still rejected the idea that late shotmaking offered comfort.
"We're not here to trade baskets with people," Williams said. "We're a defensive team. We need to get stops."
For a fan base that watched that defensive identity carry a two-seed, Game 3 is the reset test.
The Dallas problem that will not leave quietly
Ogunbowale's Game 2 line will follow Golden State onto the floor: 12-of-23 shooting, 5-of-8 from three, a tying three with 4.1 seconds left, and 11 points in overtime, the Associated Press reported. Nakase said afterward the Valkyries have to take away the step-back and force her right, with more bodies when she gets going, USA TODAY reported.
