By the Numbers

The Valkyries clinched a postseason berth for the second straight season with the win on Monday night. Golden State is the 14th team in North American professional sports history (MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, WNBA) to reach the postseason in each of its first two seasons of existence (per Elias Sports Bureau).

The Valkyries drew their 41st consecutive regular-season sellout with 18,064 on Monday night. Golden State has sold out every regular season game in team history.

Gabby Williams led all players with 23 points while adding seven rebounds and four steals. It's Williams' sixth 20-point game of the season.

Veronica Burton added 16 points, five assists and two steals, and made all three of her threes in the second.

Tiffany Hayes scored in double figures for the third straight game and sixth in her last seven with 10 points.

Janelle Salaün scored 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

Golden State ended the first half on a 22-5 run, outscoring the Wings 24-9 in the second quarter. It's the second-fewest points Dallas has scored in a second quarter this season (the season low for the Wings is seven which was also against Golden State on June 17).

The win is Golden State's league-leading 15th home victory of the season.

The Valkyries have held their opponents to 70 points or less in a league-leading 10 games this year.

The victory is also Golden State's sixth straight, its second-longest winning streak of the season. The Valkyries have won eight of their last 10, and 13 of their last 15 games.

Quotes

HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:

ON CLINCHING THE PLAYOFF BERTH AT HOME:

"It means a lot to our fans. Our fans show up. I thought they were incredibly loud tonight. I thought Ballhalla was on a different level, so it's really good for us because we want to make sure every night we play for Ballhalla. But at the end of the day, we still have a lot of work to do, so I thought it was a good job. And also, too, we talked about earlier doing this for Cynthia [Cheek]. I think there's a special type of purpose tonight. So with that, we're happy we got the job done, but we got a lot of work to do."

ON GABBY WILLIAMS:

"[Her] leadership jumps out right away. The fact that she wants to say the things that need to be said when I'm not there. I actually watched them this time in their huddles and heard what they said, and it was on point. It was fierce, it was harsh, it was needed, and then the players you could tell really responded. So that's the leadership that I need sometimes when I'm not there. Then in the playoffs you're not going to be able to hear anything. So I said, 'y'all really got to know lock in and be able to say things within seconds.' Then you saw her in her flow state today. We had Tip [Tiffany] Hayes in her flow state the other game, and Gabby [Williams] was just flowing. Being able to take big shots within our pace, but I [also] think her defense is pretty vicious."

ON BUILDING OFF OF THIS MILESTONE:

"I said the goal is to be the team that wins their last game in the season. That's the goal, and so with that, this is just part of the process that we have to build in terms of being in the playoffs. That's great, but we have so much work to do. We're playing teams with a lot more continuity, a lot more experience together, a lot more playoffs together. Three of our players have won: Ceci [Cecilia Zandalasini], KT [Kayla Thornton], Kiah [Stokes]. They have won championships, but we're playing against teams that have more. With that, it's how can we get better, and how can we get prepared for the playoffs."

GOLDEN STATE GUARD VERONICA BURTON AND FORWARD GABBY WILLIAMS:

ON REACHING THE PLAYOFFS WITH GOLDEN STATE:

Williams: "I think I'm more excited about how we've done it versus us doing it. I knew we were going to do it since I got here, but I didn't expect us to do it this way, have this much fun. Every game I go into, I have zero doubt, because I know some way we're going to figure it out. We're gonna stay together, and I think that's what I didn't expect to be so great. Of course, I wanted to, and I had a feeling, but to live it every day has been amazing."

ON HOW THE TEAM PREPARED FOR THIS MOMENT:

Burton: "Yeah, it's intense. It's the film, it's the little details, it's the repetition of the drills that we've been doing since training camp, and it's not getting tired of the little things. Whether it's as simple as ball screen coverage; we drill it all the time and it's going to be ingrained in us. The second we dip even a little bit, we're held accountable, and we're going to hear about it. We're going to watch it on film. We're going to know about it. There's still a lot of room for growth, but I think I've learned to really appreciate being so obsessed over the details because you see it. It translates. We play defense, and we make other teams struggle to score, and I think we find joy in that. So it can be hard, and it can be exhausting at times, but I think we have the right group of people, top to bottom, to get it done."

ON THE JOURNEY TO GET TO THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR COMPARED TO THE INAUGURAL SEASON:

Burton: "It's hard to compare because I think it was so different, but I would say I had that very similar level of joy, and I think that's what's unique about Golden State, is the culture that we have here. Coming into last season we had all the doubts, and the low expectations, and all of that. This year, they still were pretty low, but they were maybe a little bit higher. I think we still like to maintain that chip on our shoulder and underdog type of mentality. But there's a level of experience, and so I think that brings a level of confidence going into where we're at, and I think a steadiness and composure that maybe wasn't there as much last year. So we were excited, we loved it, we were exceeding expectations, but it was still eye-opening at times, and so there's been a level of okay, we're here, we belong here, and now we know what to do once we're here."

Up Next: The Valkyries host the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, August 19, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. PT on USA, KPIX+, KMAX, 95.7 The Game, the Audacy App, and ESPN 1320.

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