SAN FRANCISCO (Oct. 7, 2026) – Despite a late fourth quarter Las Vegas surge, the Aces (0-2) dropped a heartbreaker Game 2, 83-81, in the best-of-five WNBA Semifinals to the Golden State Valkyries (2-0) on Wednesday night in the Bay Area. A’ja Wilson led the field with a game-high of 24 points and pulled down 7 rebounds, Chelsea Gray tallied 19 points and 6 assists, Jackie Young notched a game-high 8 assists to go along with 14 points and 4 steals, Steph Talbot chipped in 10 points and 4 rebounds, and Kalani Brown added 9 points and a game-best 8 rebounds off the bench. Dana Evans, playing in her first postseason game this year, added 5 points and a pair of dimes.

Tiffany Hayes led Golden State with a team-high 21 points off the bench, while Gabby Williams scored 20.

Stats | Gallery | Highlights

TEAM	1	2	3	4	Final
Aces	11	20	24	26	81
Valkyries	19	23	24	17	83

1st Quarter Highlights (Golden State 19, Las Vegas 11)
Golden State scored the first 7 points for an early 17-7 lead with just under 3 minutes to play. During that stretch, the Aces were held to 3 of 9 from the floor, while the Valkyries hit 5 of 10. Wilson scored 6 of the Aces 11 points, including the last 4. Las Vegas shot 40% (4-10 FGs) from the field, while the home team connected on 38.5% of its attempts. Both teams shot 33.3% from deep — 1 of 3 by the Aces and 3 of 9 by the Valkyries. Williams topped all scorers with 7 points, while Wilson paced the Aces with 6.

2nd Quarter Highlights (Golden State 42, Las Vegas 31)
After Brown scored a bucket to bring it to 19-13, Golden State strung together the next 7 points for a 26-13 lead. Brown tallied the next 3 before the Valkyries went on an 8-2 spurt for the largest lead of the half, 34-18. Las Vegas outscored the Valkyries 13-8 the rest of the quarter and trailed by 11 at the half. Golden State connected on 8 of 17 (.471) overall and 4 of 9 (.444) from distance; the Aces netted 6 of 13 (.462) of their attempts and 2 of 4 (.500) from 3-point. Hayes led all scorers with 10 and Brown topped the Aces with 7.

3rd Quarter Highlights (Golden State 66, Las Vegas 55)
Both teams scored before Wilson notched 2 and-1s in a 6-2 spurt to trim the lead to 46-39, but the home team sunk back-to-back 3s to make it 52-39 with over 7 minutes to play. After a Becky Hammon timeout, the Aces cut it back down to single digits, 52-43, but were then outscored 13-4 over the next 4 and a half minutes. Las Vegas ended the third on a 8-2 run, led by 5 points from Gray, and were in an 11-point hole with 10 minutes to play. The Aces shot better this quarter, making 53.3% (8-15 FGs), but only 1 of 5 (.200) from 3-point, while Golden State hit 43.8% (7-16 FGs) of its shots and 2 of 6 from deep. Wilson led the field with 13 points and Williams tallied 8.

4th Quarter Highlights (Golden State 83, Las Vegas 81)
The Aces chipped away at the deficit to start the final frame and brought it down to 70-64 with just over 7 minutes remaining. After Golden State sunk 3 free throws, Las Vegas countered with the next 4 points that narrowed it to a 5-point game, 73-68. After a Valkyries free throw awarded for a 3-second defensive violation, the Aces knocked down back-to-back 3s in an 8-0 run to take the lead for the first time in the game, 76-74, with 1:36 to play. However, Golden State knotted it up 11 seconds later and after an Aces possession ended in a shot clock violation, the Valkryies hit their 10th 3 of the game for a 79-76 lead with 41.5 seconds left.

Neither team was able to score over the next 33 seconds until Gray was sent to the line with 9.2 seconds remaining.

After Gray a missed 3 and a jump ball that resulted ended in a Golden State possession with 35.2 seconds left, the Valkyries ran down the clock and finally shot it with 14.3 seconds left. Five seconds later, Gray was sent to the line and sunk a pair of free throws, drawing the score to 79-78. That put Golden State in the bonus, but also forced the Aces to foul to stop the clock. Following 4 free throws from the Valkyries and a pair from Las Vegas, Young stepped up to the line with 5.9 seconds left. She sunk the first and intentionally missed the second for an offensive opportunity. Gray snagged the rebound, but missed the putback as time expired. The Aces hit 36.8% (7-19 FGs) from the floor and the opposition connected on 33.3% (4-12 FGs). From distance, however, the Aces stepped up and made 57.1% (4-7 3FGs) in the fourth, while the Valkyries only hit 1 of 5 from deep. Veronica Burton tallied 6 points, including the dagger 3 that put Golden State up 3 with 41.5 seconds to go; Gray scored 7, including the game-tying 3 to make it 74-74 at the 2:10 mark.

KEY STATS
The ACLU is currently tracking 531 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across our nation, zero of which are in Nevada.

Women still make just 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. Black women earn only 64 cents and Latinas only 54 cents for each dollar earned by white men.

The Aces held their first and only lead for 11 seconds, 76-74, from 1:36 to 1:25 left in the fourth quarter.

Young’s game-high 8 assists turned into 20 Aces points and Gray’s 6 flipped to 12.

	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	OFF	DEF	REB	AT	PF	ST	TO	BK
Aces	25-57	.439	8-19	.421	23-26	.885	6	19	25	19	17	8	11	2
Valkyries	24-58	.414	10-29	.345	25-27	.926	10	20	30	12	25	7	12	1

Points scored ….

	In the Paint	2nd Chance	Fast Break	Off TOs	Bench
Aces	24	6	0	13	14
Valkyries	20	9	8	16	34

GAME NOTES

Gray broke a tie with Seimone Augustus (362) for No. 8 on the all-time postseason made field goals list and now has 369.

With a steal tonight, Wilson (73) broke a tie with Sue Bird, Katie Douglas and Courtney Vandersloot, who all had 72 each, for the No. 9 spot. She is now tied with DeLisha Milton-Jones at No. 8.

Wilson entered the game at No. 3 on the the postseason all-time defensive rebounds list with 479 and is now tied with Candace Parker (485) at No. 2 after grabbing 6 tonight.

Young (94) is now No. 8 on the all-time 3-pointers made list after her 2 3-pointers passed Kayla McBride (93).

Wilson notched her 36th career playoff game with at least 20 points.

Wilson has scored in double figures in a league-high 39 consecutive playoff games, and she has scored at least 20 in each of her last 11 playoff games, which broke a tie with Breanna Stewart (10) as the longest such streak in W postseason history.

Gray is now tied at No. 6 with Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen with 51 10-point games in the postseason.

Gray bumped past Sylvia Fowles (250) and into No. 16 for 2-point field goals made, and now has 252.

The Aces were without the services of Jewell Loyd (left leg).

Up Next: The series shifts to Las Vegas for Game 3 of the semis, which tips at 6:30 p.m. at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The game will be streamed on Peacock and NBCSN. Game 4, if necessary, will be contested in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 11. The complete playoff schedule can be found here.

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