SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 27: Tiffany Hayes #15 of the Golden State Valkyries celebrates with Kayla Thornton #5 after making a basket in the second quarter of Game 1 of the first round of the WNBA Playoffs against the Dallas Wings at Chase Center on September 27, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Notebook from Game 1 104-80 win against Dallas

Earlier in the day, the Associated Press named Janelle Salaun its WNBA Sixth Player of the Year and Gabby Williams to its second team all-WNBA, which could be a preview for how the official awards might go in the next few weeks.
Some playoff housekeeping for folks who might not know:
- Miela Sowah and Ashten Prechtel are both ineligible to dress for playoff games as developmental players. Teams will only be able to play their 12 roster players.
- The playoffs do not reseed, so those who might be excited that Minnesota dropped Game 1 to New York, it doesn’t actually change anything for the second round. In the bracket format, a Valkyries second round would still be against the winner of Las Vegas and Indiana.

Golden State’s 37-11 second quarter was indeed historic. The 37 points were its most in any quarter this season, breaking the previous mark of 35 against Portland on June 2. Their 104 points were also the most in franchise history, breaking their record of 102 from a game against the Las Vegas Aces in 2025.
Was it the full four quarters that Natalie Nakase was looking for?
“No,” Nakase said. “”But we’re getting there.”