The first quarter at Chase Center was competitive. The second was not.
Cecilia Zandalasini scored 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting with four threes, Gabby Williams added 20, and Tiffany Hayes poured in 21 off the bench as the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries rolled past the seventh-seeded Dallas Wings 104-80 in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series, the Associated Press reported for WNBA.com. Veronica Burton and Kayla Thornton each finished with 10.
Golden State led 58-31 at halftime after a 37-11 second quarter and closed the night 18-for-36 from three, including 10-for-20 before the break.
Paige Bueckers scored 21 on 9-for-10 shooting with six rebounds for Dallas. She had 17 by halftime and still left Chase Center looking for help. The Wings went 6-for-20 from deep. Series score: Golden State 1-0. Game 2 is Wednesday in Dallas at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN, Sporting News' series schedule listed. A deciding Game 3, if needed, returns to Chase Center on Friday.
The stretch that decided the night
The first period ended 21-20 Golden State. Then the Valkyries flipped the series board.
Thornton's three with 7:23 left in the second made it 32-24 and prompted a Dallas timeout, the AP recap noted. Hayes and Zandalasini kept heating from distance. Golden State's half-court defense, which coach Natalie Nakase later called ferocious when the Valkyries are awake, turned every empty Wings possession into another three-point look.
By the intermission, the deficit was 27. A best-of-three rarely recovers from that kind of hole on the road.
The box after that was less about one star than about who else scored. Bueckers was efficient; the rest of the starting group was not. Maddy Siegrist finished with 11. Arike Ogunbowale had 10. Jessica Shepard was held without a field goal. When Bueckers sat or when the ball stuck on the perimeter, Golden State's help rotations had somewhere to send the possession.
What has to change before tip on Wednesday
Wednesday is already an elimination game. The checklist is short and specific.
First, the three-point gap. Golden State made 18 threes; Dallas made six. That is not a one-possession variance. Contested catch-and-shoot looks for Zandalasini and Hayes have to become contested closeouts, and Dallas's own 6-for-20 night has to climb closer to average without forcing early-clock heaves.
Second, a second and third scorer have to finish above single digits that feel ornamental. Bueckers cannot be the only starter who consistently finishes through contact. Ogunbowale's free-throw volume and Siegrist's midrange need to translate into paint pressure that opens the same kickouts Golden State used all night.
