SAN JOSE, Calif. — A mantra that loomed large over the first-ever home playoff game for the Golden State Valkyries was that ‘Ballhalla is a mentality.’ The Valkyries, forced to temporarily relocate about 50 miles south to San Jose from their downtown San Francisco home due to a pre-arranged scheduling conflict, were not only celebrating a historic playoff appearance. They were also celebrating Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase, as well as the league’s Most Improved Player Veronica Burton, who were honored in a pregame ceremony.
As Nakase said days before, Ballhalla traveled. They showed no visible signs of getting stuck in Bay Area traffic, either, and their mentality was full display in the SAP Center.
For three quarters, it was an absolute nightmare for the Minnesota Lynx.
The Valkyries led by as many as 17 on the night. They took a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter, holding the Lynx to under 40% shooting from the field while setting the nets on fire on their end. Only the most historic of comebacks could prevent these two teams from tipping off again in a winner-take-all grudge match on Friday night in Minneapolis.
“I think you have to credit Golden State,” Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said in her postgame press conference. “I think they came with the appropriate bounce in their step. You can know it as the opposing team, you can know exactly what you’re walking into, sometimes you can’t do anything about it and I thought that was the case.”
Golden State came out swinging. They shot 5-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter and led 27-19 after the first quarter. The Valkyries also dominated on the defensive end of the floor, holding the Lynx to just nine points on 4-for-17 shooting in the second quarter, which matched their lowest offensive output in a quarter all season.
Bridget Carleton started heating up from deep and helped the Lynx play to a more even third quarter. Carleton, Napheesa Collier, and Kayla McBride combined for all 21 of Minnesota’s third quarter points. The Valkyries did them one better by scoring 22, and in doing so built a 14-point lead heading into the game’s final period.
Minnesota’s record when facing such a deficit entering the fourth quarter since the league switched from halves to quarters in 2006: 0-76.
“One thing that we were saying during our timeouts was, like, I’ve been doing this a really long time, and one thing that always strikes you, whether you’re up 20 and your fans are hooting and hollering … it’s a long game,” Reeve said. “It’s a very long game with a lot of possessions. I know seven minutes [left] in the third quarter, and we were still down double figures, 12 or 13, I kept going ‘Seventeen minutes, that’s so many possessions,’ if we could just hang in there a little bit.”
Collier scored the first bucket of the quarter on a second chance opportunity. Iliana Rupert was whistled for a double dribble and Natisha Hiedeman attacked the basket for her first bucket of the day on the next play.
DiJonai Carrington, who watched her first three 3-point attempts clang off the rim, got one to go in off the backboard and in just 90 seconds, the Lynx cut the seemingly insurmountable lead in half.
“Just the desperation that we played with,” Collier said. “Knowing that we were down by a lot at that point and we only had 10 minutes to get it back, and just playing. Coach said at one point, ‘There’s nothing I can draw up for you that’s going to get you an easy bucket, you have to go out there and just play.’ I think just changing that mindset. They’ve scouted all of our plays. It’s a playoff series, so just going out there and playing basketball, getting a pick and roll, making reads, I thought we did a really good job with that and being aggressive in the fourth quarter.”
Minnesota found the bottom of the net on 11-for-15 shot attempts in the fourth quarter, but almost none of them came easy.
An 11-0 run trimmed the lead all the way down to three, but the Valkyries struck right back with five unanswered to hold a 68-60 advantage with 5:34 to go. Reeve called time to assess the situation with her team and remind them what they’re capable of.
“Even five minutes to go when we had cut it to three and they rattled off five straight, I asked them not to quit,” Reeve said. “I asked them not to quit. I asked them to keep after what they were doing. They believed. Phee and K-Mac were terrific. [Hiedeman] navigating the fourth quarter for us. I mentioned [Carleton] to start the third quarter, exactly what we needed, more of an assassin mentality because Golden State has assassin mentalities.”
Courtney Williams does it again
Starting guard Courtney Williams was not having her best game on Wednesday night. Minnesota started the fourth quarter with its starting lead guard on the bench. Williams subbed in at the 2:57 mark and the Lynx trailing by one.
After trading baskets the Lynx led by one and had possession of the ball with 47 seconds to go. Williams had shot 2-for-8 at that point when she found herself on the receiving end of a swing pass from Carleton and the shot clock melting away. Despite poor shooting throughout the evening, Williams drained a 17-foot pull-up jump shot that put the Lynx up for good.
“I blacked out,” Collier said with a laugh when asked about the play after the game. “I black out during games I have no idea.”
McBride, seated beside Collier on the postgame podium, had a bit clearer memory of one of the game’s biggest shots than her teammate.
“We didn’t have a play,” McBride said through laughter. “I think it was just a swing-swing. Bridge got it on another swing and then just swung it to Courtney and she just had to pull up. Courtney relishes those moments, as we’ve seen her do it countless, countless times. I think honestly it was just a broken play off [an offensive rebound] and it was just pack it, drive, kick, Bridge pump fake,” then turned to Collier and asked, “You don’t remember?”
“No,” Collier confirmed.
“Kick, dribble,” McBride continued. “Kicked it to Courtney. Courtney took one dribble and pulled up on the right elbow and that’s just her money shot to put us up three. That’s just who she is. She’s a hooper and she made a big time play.”
The shot was just the latest example of Williams’ clutch gene as a player who has hit some of the biggest shots in Lynx postseason history in just two years with the franchise.
“We were on her the whole game. I said, ‘Court, I’ve got to have my big three,’” Reeve said. “We counted on her heavily for her energy, for her belief, and for her hyping her teammates, and she’s the type that wants that shot. She doesn’t care what happened. It’s why we call her ‘Dory.’ She forgets everything else that happened, so she was just going to stand there for us and be tough and try to make a shot and she did.”
Former Lynx Cecilia Zandalasini answered with a bucket of her own to cut the lead down to 75-74, but her buzzer-beating attempt drew back iron and fell to the floor, completing the biggest fourth quarter comeback in Lynx franchise history.
The priceless prize of a 2-0 sweep
The Lynx are the only team in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs to sweep their first-round matchup and are the first to punch their ticket to the semifinals. Their reward: a precious couple of days off before hosting Game 1 against either New York or Phoenix at Target Center on Sunday afternoon.
“Any rest you can get is huge at this time of the year,” Collier said. “The games are super physical. It’s playoffs, they let you play a little bit more … [This] was a gritty, gritty win. This is a good team, and they play really hard. We were down 17 at one point. I said this in the locker room, I was just so proud of our effort, the heart that we have. We’re in the situation on the road in such a tough environment down 17, it feels like they’re making everything, and to come back and make hard buckets. I think it shows the grit and the resilience this team has that we’ve been talking about for two years, so I was really proud of us today.”
