NFL
By: Ashmere Prasad
The Valkyries pride themselves on three main points of play: defense, three-point shooting, and communication. On Sunday night, Golden State hit all three, leading to a 104-80 victory in Game one of the WNBA Playoffs.
Sunday’s triumph was Golden State’s first playoff game in its original home of Ballahalla, since last year’s game moved to San Jose because of scheduling conflicts. It was also their first playoff win, after they fell short to the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx in their three-game series.
Valkyries Offensive Fire
The pendulum swung in the Valkyries’ favor once Tiffany Hayes entered the game with a little over four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Hayes intercepted a pass from Beuckers, drove to the hoop, and hit a layup for the lead. There was no going back for Golden State. Hayes’ offensive energy was electric; she scored 10 points in five minutes. The Valkyries slowly built a lead and gained some cushion. A 10-point lead turned into 15, and eventually they led by as many as 36.
“With Tip, the energy just shifted,” Nakase shared. “Our defense led to the flow of the offense. It’s really hard for teams to match up correctly if we’re pushing at a good rate. In that second quarter, we continued to punch, and with Tip getting downhill, they played off of her.”
The energy in Ballhalla was high, rowdy, and loud. They booed, they cheered, they sang, and the players fed off the crowd’s energy and each other’s rhythm. The fans did their job at rattling the competition and making the Wings feel the pressure.
The defense smothered Bueckers, but she continued to hit tough shots over the Valkyries’ defenders. 17 of her 21 points were scored in the first half. If the Wings want to be a factor in game two, the Wings offense will need to step up and help out with scoring.
“All my buckets were tough. They make it extremely hard,” Bueckers said postgame. “They show strengths and have people in gaps. They showed multiple bodies they blitzed. They make every shot tough. Nothing about tonight was easy…I know as a team they’re well connected, and Coach Nat, I’ve been around her enough to know her team is always going to be prepared.”
Golden State scored 21 of their 37 points in the second quarter off three-pointers, and ended the night 50% from the arc. The Valkyries are the first WNBA team in postseason history to have six different players score multiple threes. (ESPN)
Cecilia Zandalasini found her groove after taking a break from the FIBA tournament and ended as the team leader in scoring with 22 points.
How to Close out the Series
The Valkyries are eyeing a deeper playoff run than last season, and closing out this series on Wednesday will give the team rest and time to prepare for a five-game series. Nakase said the players are in recovery mode starting tonight, knowing that Dallas will be hungry for a victory in front of their home fans.
Nakase also shared postgame that the team played two and a half strong quarters on Sunday night. “Our defense dipped at one point and we let them get easy buckets in the paint.” Nakase is still on the hunt for a strong four quarters from her team.
If everyone is shooting this well in game two and holding off any offensive flow from the Wings, Golden State can sweep this series. Williams said the team learned patience in this matchup, which showed in their ball movement. Rather than continuously attacking the paint for a bucket, the Warriors found success beyond the arc. Ball handlers drew in multiple defenders and kicked it out to a shooter, and the rest was history (literally). Golden State set a new scoring record with tonight’s 104-point victory, the most scored by the franchise in its two seasons.
