3 takeaways from Aces’ win: Hard-fought battle boosts playoff position

Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase called a timeout with 15 seconds left on the clock and her team down eight points. She wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

That was the nature of the Aces’ 78-72 win over the Valkyries on Wednesday. It was a battle at San Francisco’s Chase Center, which is nicknamed “Ballhalla” when Golden State plays, in honor of the expansion franchise’s ties to Norse mythology.

Wednesday’s game featured four lead changes in the first half. The Aces led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, but the Valkyries cut their deficit to four in the final four minutes. Golden State didn’t get any closer.

Valhalla is the hall of fallen warriors, and the Aces proved bravest in combat.

“It was a hard-fought game on both ends,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “I thought their team scrapped. We were scrapping. And the energy in this building is crazy. I mean, they are loud. So we were fighting a lot of different outside elements.”

Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson led the Aces (16-14) with 27 points while playing with a black eye she said she sustained Saturday against the Minnesota Lynx. Guards Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd added 14 points each.

Former Aces guard Tiffany Hayes scored 14 points for the Valkyries (14-15).

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Physical battle

The Aces and Valkyries entered the matchup seventh and eighth in the WNBA standings, respectively.

That made Wednesday’s game crucial. The Aces ended the season series with a 3-1 edge thanks to the win, giving them the tiebreaker over Golden State when it comes to postseason seeding.

The game’s physicality matched the stakes. Valkyries guard Veronica Burton committed a flagrant foul in the second quarter by dragging her elbow on a drive to the basket and hitting point guard Chelsea Gray in the face. Tensions also flared when Aces guard Dana Evans bumped rookie Carla Leite early in the fourth quarter. Young had to push Hayes away after Hayes said some heated words in response.

Wilson said she stopped looking at the standings when her team’s season got difficult. Young, however, made it clear the Aces were aware of the matchup’s significance.

“We knew this was a big one today, and they have a great crowd,” Young said. “So we just really had to walk in and get defensive stops, execute the defensive schemes and do whatever we could to win the game.”

2. Milestone block

Wilson recorded her 500th career block by rejecting rookie Janelle Salaun at the rim. She is the 10th player in WNBA history to reach that milestone, a list that includes former teammate Candace Parker.

Wilson leads the league with 2.3 blocks per game this season and relishes how that skill can impact the energy for her team on any given night.

“I feel like a good block can definitely change the momentum of a game. It could be a big bucket and you just got a big stop, or just the tenacity of it is kind of nasty. Especially to get a good one, it could kind of wake your team up. So I love that. It’s definitely an aspect of my game that I love the most because defense is fun when you play it right,” Wilson said. “So I definitely take that personally.”

3. No sex toy

Green sex toys have been thrown on the court during three WNBA games the last nine days, but Wednesday’s matchup was free of incident.

The WNBA fan code of conduct was read to fans in attendance and displayed on the jumbotron as usual. The code specifically mentions “disruptive behaviors” such as throwing objects and other obscene actions are subject to ejection and arrest.

That hasn’t stopped other Valkyries games from being disrupted. Golden State had a sex toy thrown on the court during its win over the Atlanta Dream on July 29. The Valkyries had the same thing happen again in their win over the Chicago Sky on Friday.

A sex toy was also thrown in the first half of the Los Angeles Sparks’ win over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday.

The WNBA said in a statement that fans who throw objects onto the court will be punished with an immediate ejection, a one-year ban and a criminal charge. Two men have been arrested in connection with these incidents.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.