Valkyries come back from 11 down, beat Aces 87-77 in overtime to reach the WNBA Finals in their second season

Kiah Stokes blocked A'ja Wilson at the rim with 28.6 seconds left in regulation, and again blocked Jackie Young in overtime. In between, the Golden State Valkyries took over. They beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-77 in overtime on Friday night at Michelob Ultra Arena to finish a 3-0 semifinal sweep and reach the WNBA Finals.

The Valkyries began play in 2025. This is their second season.

Kayla Thornton led Golden State with 18 points and nine rebounds. Gabby Williams scored 16, eight of them in overtime. Stokes had 11 points and 10 rebounds and made all five shots. Wilson scored 21 with 10 rebounds for Las Vegas, Young scored 18 and Chelsea Gray 17.

Down 11, then 17 straight

Las Vegas led 45-36 at half-time, and two Wilson free throws made it 47-36 with 9:10 left in the third quarter.

Golden State scored the next 17 points. Stokes started it with a layup. Thornton hit a three from 24 feet. Tiffany Hayes added a three from 28 feet and a driving layup, Kaitlyn Chen scored inside to give the Valkyries the lead at 48-47, and Thornton made two free throws. Stokes finished the run with a three from 23 feet for 53-47 with 2:24 left in the quarter.

The Aces scored seven points in the whole third quarter. Golden State scored 17.

Six down with under three minutes left

Las Vegas took the lead back in the fourth quarter and led 69-63 when Veronica Burton went to the line with 2:51 left.

Burton made both. Stokes scored on a layup from Williams, Thornton tied it 69-69 on a running layup from Williams, and Burton's jumper from nine feet gave Golden State a 71-69 lead with 1:12 left.

Williams missed a pull-up. Wilson drove at the rim, and Stokes blocked the shot. Young then scored on a layup from Gray to tie it 71-71 with 26.6 seconds left. Williams missed a driving layup with five seconds left, and Gray's pull-up from 14 feet at the horn missed.

Overtime: 16-6

Hayes opened overtime with a driving layup, and Williams added another. After a Gray layup made it 75-73, Golden State scored the next eight. Hayes scored from five feet, Williams made two free throws, and Williams hit a step-back jumper from 18 feet off a Stokes pass for 81-73 with 54.7 seconds left.

Stokes blocked Young's layup on the next trip. Williams stole a Gray pass and made two more free throws for 83-73, Golden State's biggest lead of the night. Thornton made four free throws in the last 35 seconds.

How Golden State won it

The Valkyries had 12 steals to the Aces' three. Las Vegas turned the ball over 15 times to Golden State's 10. The Valkyries also outrebounded the Aces 43-35.

Jewell Loyd returned for Las Vegas after missing Game 2 with a leg injury and scored three points in 23 minutes.

Golden State won Game 1 71-60 and Game 2 83-81. Las Vegas had won all three regular-season meetings.

Scoring

Golden State: Kayla Thornton 18, Gabby Williams 16, Kiah Stokes 11, Tiffany Hayes 11, Veronica Burton 8, Cecilia Zandalasini 7, Kaila Charles 7, Kaitlyn Chen 6, Janelle Salaün 3, Aminata Gueye 0.

Las Vegas: A'ja Wilson 21, Jackie Young 18, Chelsea Gray 17, Kalani Brown 8, Dana Evans 8, Jewell Loyd 3, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus 2, Stephanie Talbot 0, Brianna Turner 0.

By quarter: Golden State 16, 20, 17, 18, 16 (overtime). Las Vegas 19, 26, 7, 19, 6 (overtime).

What is next

The WNBA Finals start on Saturday, October 17, with Game 1 at Chase Center in San Francisco at 3:30 p.m. ET. Golden State play the Atlanta Dream, who swept the New York Liberty 3-0.