Valkyries Sweep Defending Champion Aces in Overtime, Reach First WNBA Finals in Second Season

Let that sink in for a second: a team that didn’t exist two years ago just swept the most dominant dynasty in modern women’s basketball. The Golden State Valkyries didn’t just beat the defending champion Las Vegas Aces — they dismantled them, 3-0, in a best-of-five series that ended with an 87-77 overtime thriller in Las Vegas on Friday night. And now the entire WNBA has to ask a question nobody saw coming: is this really happening this fast?

Yes. It really is. In only their second season of existence, the Valkyries are going to the WNBA Finals, where they’ll meet the No. 4 Atlanta Dream — who completed their own sweep of the New York Liberty earlier the same night. The Finals tip off on October 17, with Golden State holding home-court advantage. The Valkyries have now become the quickest expansion team in league history to reach a WNBA Finals. Not bad for a franchise that, just last year, became the first expansion team ever to make the playoffs in its inaugural season.

A Valkyries sweep of the Aces nobody predicted — and nobody could stop

Let’s be honest: nobody had this on their bingo card. The Aces came into this postseason having won three of the past four championships, led by A’ja Wilson — who was honored before Friday’s game for winning an unprecedented fifth MVP award. Becky Hammon’s squad was seeded third, favored by most, and armed with championship muscle memory that supposedly matters most in October.

Golden State had other plans. The second-seeded Valkyries took Game 1 at home, 71-60, behind Gabby Williams’ 25-point, 11-rebound, 5-assist masterpiece. Then came Game 2’s instant classic — an 83-81 nail-biter in San Francisco where Veronica Burton buried a deep three-pointer with 41 seconds left, the only basket she made all night, and Tiffany Hayes poured in 21 points against her former team. The Aces, meanwhile, were missing Jewell Loyd to a left leg injury and left the Bay Area staring at a 2-0 hole.

The series then shifted to Las Vegas for Game 3, and for a while it looked like the champs might finally land a punch. They rebuilt a 69-63 lead on a Wilson layup with 3:08 left in the fourth. What happened next was pure Valkyries: an 8-0 run in the final three minutes. Williams picked Wilson’s pocket and fed Kayla Thornton for the tying fast-break layup at 69-69 with 1:50 left. Burton’s floater put Golden State up 71-69 with 1:12 to play. Jackie Young tied it with 26.6 seconds remaining, Chelsea Gray’s 15-footer at the buzzer missed — and overtime belonged entirely to Golden State.

Overtime belonged to Golden State

The extra period wasn’t close. The Valkyries outscored Las Vegas 16-6 in overtime — a 12-2 run that buried the three-time champions on their own floor. Williams scored eight of her 16 points in the extra five minutes, including a step-back jumper that made it 81-73 with 54.7 seconds left. Golden State made all eight of its free throws in overtime, four apiece from Williams and Thornton.

The final box score told the story of the series: Thornton led with 18 points, Williams added 16, and former Aces Kiah Stokes and Tiffany Hayes — yes, former Aces — each scored 11, with Stokes also grabbing 10 rebounds, blocking three shots, and adding three assists and two steals. It was the kind of all-around, defensive-minded, next-player-up performance that has defined this team all season.

For Las Vegas, the numbers were brutal in a different way. Wilson finished with 21 points but needed 19 shots to get there, and her 6-for-19 night was one of the quietest of her postseason career. She did reach a milestone — joining DeWanna Bonner as the only players in WNBA history with 1,300 points and 600 rebounds in the playoffs — but it was cold comfort. The Aces forced 15 turnovers but coughed up the ball 11 times themselves, and Golden State’s 12 steals told you which team controlled the tempo.

What this Valkyries sweep of the Aces really means

Here’s the part that should make every other WNBA front office uncomfortable: this team isn’t winning on luck or hot shooting. The Valkyries are winning on identity. Deep rotations. Relentless defense. Players who were cast off or overlooked elsewhere — Stokes and Hayes both played for the Aces before finding a home in the Bay Area — thriving in bigger roles.

And the Bay Area is showing up. The Valkyries recently became the first women’s sports team to break $100 million in revenue, a staggering commercial milestone for a second-year club. They drew rocking crowds at Chase Center all postseason. There’s a real movement happening in San Francisco — the kind that usually takes a decade to build, compressed into about 18 months.

It’s also worth zooming out for a moment: this has been a wild weekend for sports fans everywhere, from October playoff basketball in the US to the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka T20I thriller in Rawalpindi keeping cricket supporters glued to their screens. Sports is having a moment — and the Valkyries are riding the crest of it.

The Aces’ dynasty hits the wall

Don’t shed too many tears for Las Vegas — dynasties don’t die, they reload. But this was the first time a Becky Hammon-coached Aces team was swept in the playoffs, and the first time the franchise had been swept since the 2020 Finals against Seattle. For a team built around a five-time MVP in her prime, going out like this stings.

Wilson said it best after the game: “I’m going to try to show up and uphold that championship standard every single opportunity I get because, hell, we created it. I feel like every year for us is championship or bust. So it’s a bust year for us.”

That’s the honesty that made this rivalry great. But here’s the uncomfortable truth for the Aces: the standard now has a new challenger. Golden State didn’t just beat them — they out-defended, out-rebounded (43-35), and out-executed them over three games. The 22-0 playoff history of teams leading a series 2-0 says the sweep was practically written in stone, but few expected the Valkyries to close it out in enemy territory with such authority.

What comes next: Valkyries vs Dream in the WNBA Finals

The Finals begin October 17, with the No. 2 Valkyries hosting the No. 4 Atlanta Dream in a best-of-seven series — the league’s first Finals in the new extended format. The Dream, led by Angel Reese, Allisha Gray, and Rhyne Howard, are chasing the franchise’s first championship. They haven’t been to the Finals since 2013.

Golden State holds home-court advantage. Games 1, 2, 5, and 7 — if needed — will be in San Francisco. One storyline to watch: Reese was just named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, so this could become a fascinating battle between Atlanta’s star power and Golden State’s defensive swarm.

FAQ: Valkyries sweep Aces, WNBA Finals questions answered

How did the Valkyries sweep the Aces?

Golden State won 3-0: 71-60 in Game 1 in San Francisco, 83-81 in Game 2 on Veronica Burton’s late three-pointer, and 87-77 in overtime in Game 3 in Las Vegas. Defense and depth were the difference — the Valkyries forced key turnovers and outscored the Aces 16-6 in the decisive overtime period.

When do the WNBA Finals start?

The 2026 WNBA Finals begin October 17, with the No. 2 Golden State Valkyries hosting the No. 4 Atlanta Dream. It’s a best-of-seven series in a 2-2-1-1-1 format, and the Valkyries have home-court advantage.

Have the Golden State Valkyries ever been to the WNBA Finals before?

No — this is their first Finals appearance, in only their second season. They’ve already set history as the quickest expansion team ever to reach the Finals, after becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season last year.

What happened to the Las Vegas Aces?

The defending champions were swept 3-0, the first sweep of a Becky Hammon-coached team. A’ja Wilson was honored for a record fifth MVP before Game 3 but shot just 6-for-19. The Aces had won three of the past four championships before running into Golden State’s defense.

The bottom line

Every great league eventually gets the moment when the old guard hands the crown to someone new — or has it ripped away. Friday night in Las Vegas was that moment. The Golden State Valkyries didn’t stumble into the WNBA Finals; they stormed in, sweeping a dynasty and winning on the road in overtime in just their second season. Whether they finish the job against the Dream starting October 17 is still to be written. But the future of the WNBA just arrived, and it’s wearing teal.