Basketball is a game of runs.
This truth was perfectly illustrated in Game 3 of the first-round WNBA playoff series between the Golden State Valkyries and Dallas Wings.
A 20-0 sprint by Wings, beginning in the second quarter and extending into the third, seemed to have Dallas soaring toward the first-round upset and into the semifinals. Arike Ogunbowale again was the engine, proving she was not out of scoring gas after her playoff-record 45 points in Game 2. Arike dropped 17 points in the first half, on her way to a 30-ball.
Gabby Williams, who dueled Ogunbowale in Game 2, also showed she had more to give.
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But first, with the Valkyries down 16 points, Veronica Burton, finally, ended the Golden State scoring drought—and kickstarted the comeback. From there, the Valkyries issued their own 14-4 run to close the third quarter, cutting the margin to five points to begin the fourth.
Williams then went to work, scoring 11 of her 19 points in the final frame, including the go-ahead middie with with less than 90 seconds remaining, to ultimately set up Golden State for the 77-73 Game 3 victory and the franchise’s first-ever series win.
Tiffany Hayes, who again stepped up with 18 points from off-the-bench, said of Williams:
Big shot Gabby. She’s our dog, she’s our leader and she’s the one we go to, and she showed you exactly why. We’ll do it again and again, and over and over. … That’s Gabby f—ing Williams.
Williams expressed her appreciation for her team’s belief in her in the biggest moments, sharing postgame:
I wanted someone to believe in me in the league.
I never quite got that belief in the W from a staff or teammates. … The fact they trust me to have the ball in my hands, it’s not even about making the right shot, just making the right decisions.
Hopefully, that belief will now inspire more heroics from Gabby, as the No. 2-seed Valkyries now will meet the No. 3-seed Las Vegas Aces, a team not only teaming with belief and heroics but intimidation and experience, in the semifinals. Despite their superior seed, Golden State was swept 3-0 by Vegas in the regular season.
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While the Wings certainly will rue the missed opportunity, Dallas deserves tons of credit for turning what appeared to be trending toward an uninspiring sweep into a competitive series. That the Wings, led by tandem of Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers, who had 17 points and six assists in Game 2, conjured such competitiveness without the services of injured contributors Azzi Fudd and Alanna Smith is even more encouraging.
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