I know I played with them, much respect to them. But at the end of the day, I'm here.
"I'm going to hold some stuff, but I'm going to say it was amazing." Golden State's Tiffany Hayes, who missed last year's playoffs injured, on beating her old team, the Aces: "I know I played with them, much respect to them. But at the end of the day, I'm here."
Veronica Burton's assignment for Golden State: the Aces' Bre Turner, whom she has guarded the past two games. Burton said that can change at any moment, because a fast break can put her back on a guard. The Valkyries lead the series 2-0 heading to Las Vegas.
complete wake-up call on how important health is.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase called her exhaustion and dropping during the Dallas game a "complete wake-up call on how important health is." Her sister crying shook her; both saw their father die in front of them. She now eats and prioritises mornings over coffee.
Kalani was huge for us inside... We can use her a little bit more.
Kalani Brown may get a bigger role for the Las Vegas Aces. Down 0-2, Becky Hammon went to a two-center lineup and said Brown got Golden State's thin frontcourt in foul trouble. Stephanie Talbot: "Kalani was huge for us inside... We can use her a little bit more."
I finished the regular season with some momentum and some confidence, and I just tried to bring that into the game.
Stephanie Talbot returned for the Las Vegas Aces in a Game 2 loss to Golden State and leaned on how she closed the year: "I finished the regular season with some momentum and some confidence, and I just tried to bring that into the game."
Tap a player to read everything said about them. A number by a name is how many notes there are.
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | STL | BLK | TO | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephanie Talbot 3 | 21 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 2-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 |
| Brianna Turner | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -13 |
| A'ja Wilson 4 | 36 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 9-16 | 0-1 | 6-6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 |
| Chelsea Gray 1 | 39 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 7-15 | 3-8 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jackie Young 3 | 37 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 2-7 | 2-4 | 8-10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | +5 |
| Bench | |||||||||||
| Cheyenne Parker-Tyus | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Kierstan Bell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Kalani Brown 1 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +3 |
| Dana Evans 1 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | +1 |
| Justine Pissott | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 |
| Mai Yamamoto 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team | 81 | 25 | 19 | 25-57 | 8-19 | 23-26 | 8 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | STL | BLK | TO | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayla Thornton | 30 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 3-7 | 3-5 | 7-7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Gabby Williams 13 | 30 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 7-17 | 3-8 | 3-4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -6 |
| Cecilia Zandalasini | 20 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | +5 |
| Kiah Stokes 2 | 29 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -7 |
| Veronica Burton 5 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 5-6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +2 |
| Bench | |||||||||||
| Janelle Salaun 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +7 |
| Aminata Gueye | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1-6 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +3 |
| Tiffany Hayes 11 | 17 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 6-10 | 1-2 | 8-8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +4 |
| Kaila Charles | 17 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | +3 |
| Kaitlyn Chen 1 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3-5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Laeticia Amihere 1 | COACH'S DECISION | ||||||||||
| Ashten Prechtel | COACH'S DECISION | ||||||||||
| Miela Sowah | COACH'S DECISION | ||||||||||
| Juste Jocyte | COACH'S DECISION | ||||||||||
| Team | 83 | 30 | 12 | 24-58 | 10-29 | 25-27 | 7 | 1 | 12 | ||