WNBA Semifinals Open With Stunners From Valkyries and Dream

The WNBA semifinals tipped off on Sunday with two results few predicted: the Golden State Valkyries held off the defending-champion Las Vegas Aces 71-60 at Chase Center, and the Atlanta Dream pulled away from the New York Liberty 92-82. Both winners now lead their best-of-five series 1-0, and both did it with defense, turning the opening weekend of the 2026 postseason into a statement about where this league is headed.

The Valkyries' win is the story of the weekend. Golden State, in just its second season as an expansion franchise, took down the team that swept last year's championship round in four games. Gabby Williams poured in 25 points with 11 rebounds and five assists, while Kiah Stokes grabbed 14 boards and blocked three shots as Golden State ground the league's highest-scoring offense to a halt, according to NBC Sports. It was the first series-opener victory of the WNBA semifinals for a franchise that did not exist two years ago, and it came in front of a sellout home crowd that never sat down.

Las Vegas never found a rhythm. A'ja Wilson finished with 24 points but needed 21 shots to get there, and the Aces were held to their fewest points of the entire season. The night got worse when guard Jewell Loyd left early in the third quarter with a leg injury; the team said she was being evaluated. Aces coach Becky Hammon did not sugarcoat it afterward, saying of the effort: "we didn't do it. Period."

Over in Atlanta, the Dream authored the night's other reversal. Down three at halftime and playing most of the game without Allisha Gray, who hurt her left hand in the second quarter, Atlanta ripped off a 32-15 third quarter to seize control. Jordin Canada turned in a twenty-five-point night, 20 of them after halftime, with five steals, and DeWanna Bonner added 23 points. The Liberty committed 21 turnovers, which Atlanta converted into a playoff-record-tying 32 points off giveaways, as reported by Sportsnet. Sabrina Ionescu led New York with 27 points and Breanna Stewart chipped in 19, but the late rally fell short.

Stakes for each series in the WNBA semifinals

For Golden State, the stakes are almost hard to overstate. The Valkyries are the league's first expansion franchise since 2008, and after last year's eighth-place debut they finished this season as the second seed. They have never won a playoff series against Las Vegas, and the Aces have ended the seasons of far more experienced challengers. Holding the reigning champions to 60 points on their home floor sends a message that the second-year team's league-best defense travels. Defense has defined both of these WNBA semifinals matchups so far, and the Aces now have two days to solve a puzzle that stumped them all Sunday.

The Dream, meanwhile, are chasing the franchise's first Finals appearance since 2013. Atlanta swept Washington in the first round, then watched the eighth-seeded Liberty sweep top-seeded Minnesota — the first time a No. 8 seed has ever eliminated a No. 1 seed in league history, according to NBC Sports. That makes New York a dangerous underdog rather than an overmatched one, and the loss of Gray puts Atlanta's depth under a microscope for the rest of the series.

The bigger story behind the WNBA semifinals

The results land in a season that has redefined what the league can be. Golden State became the first women's professional sports franchise valued at one billion dollars, according to CNBC's 2026 rankings, after its owners paid an expansion fee of fifty million dollars just three years earlier. The WNBA also locked in a new media rights package worth more than three billion dollars in the spring of 2026, and ratings and attendance have set records for two straight years. The Valkyries sold out every home game for a second consecutive season, a streak the sellout crowd on Sunday extended in the loudest way possible.

Individual stars have fueled that boom. Atlanta's Angel Reese was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year last week, taking 46 of 74 votes after setting single-season records with 521 rebounds and 32 double-doubles. Williams, meanwhile, finished as the runner-up in that same award voting before turning around and dominating Sunday's opener. The league's youngest fan base in American pro sports keeps showing up, and the postseason is giving them a product worth the noise.

What comes next in the WNBA semifinals

Both series continue Wednesday night with the second games. Atlanta hosts New York at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, while Golden State hosts Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN. The third games are set for Friday, and if either series goes the distance, the deciding fifth games land on Oct. 14, 2026. The winners of these WNBA semifinals advance to the best-of-seven championship round, which tips off Oct. 17, 2026, on NBC and Peacock and could stretch all the way to a winner-take-all finale on Oct. 31, 2026 — Halloween night — according to NBC Sports' full playoff schedule.

For Gen Z fans, this is the payoff of the league's boom years: appointment viewing with genuine stakes, a second-year expansion team one series from the Finals, and a title race that runs through the last night of October. The road to the championship now runs through the Bay Area and Atlanta — and after Sunday, nothing about these WNBA semifinals feels predictable.

For more on the league's rising stars, read about A'ja Wilson's record playoff night, and follow all the action on GenZ NewZ Sports.