Huge second quarter carries Valkyries past Wings in playoff opener

Cecilia Zandalasini and Tiffany Hayes combined for 32 points in a first-half blitz, Gabby Williams finished the game with 20 points and the Golden State Valkyries recorded the first playoff win in franchise history with a 104-80 romp over the Dallas Wings in Game 1 of the first-round series Sunday night in San Francisco.

Making her WNBA postseason debut, point guard Paige Bueckers used 9-for-10 shooting to put up a team-high 21 points in 25 minutes for the Wings, who face elimination in the best-of-three when they host Game 2 on Wednesday.

Golden State was swept 2-0 in the first round by Minnesota as an expansion team last year.

Dallas, which had seven wins in its last eight regular-season games, led for much of the first quarter and was down just 21-20 after 10 minutes. The second-seeded Valkyries dominated at both ends of the floor in the second quarter, outscoring the visitors 37-11 to go up by 27 points at halftime.

A Bueckers hoop had the seventh-seeded Wings within 34-26 with 6:28 remaining in the first half before Golden State ran off 24 of the period's last 29 points, blowing the game open at 58-31.

Zandalasini, on two 3-pointers and a pair of three-point plays, did half the Valkyries' scoring in the flurry. Williams and Veronica Burton, who also buried a pair of 3-pointers in the run, did the rest of the scoring with six points apiece.

Zandalasini scored 17 points, Hayes 15 and Williams 13 in the first half, while Bueckers had 17.

Golden State extended its lead to 34 points in the third period, prompting both coaches to empty their benches over the final 15 minutes.

Zandalasini wound up as the game's leading scorer with 22 points, hitting seven of her 11 shots, including 4 of 5 from deep. The Valkyries outscored the Wings 54-18 from beyond the arc, connecting on 18 of their 36 attempts.

Hayes shot 7-for-10 and dropped in three 3-pointers in a 21-point performance off the bench, while Burton chipped in with a team-high five assists to complement 10 points. Kayla Thornton also totaled 10 points for the winners.

Golden State center Kiah Stokes was the game's leading rebounder with eight.

Bueckers hit both her 3-point attempts and also found time for a team-high six rebounds for the Wings, who lost despite shooting 46.7% overall (28 of 60). Maddy Siegrist and Kitija Laksa added 11 points apiece. Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas' second-leading scorer during the regular season, was held to 10 points on 2-for-7 shooting.

Odyssey Sims took advantage of extensive second-half playing time to run up a game-high seven assists for the visitors, who were swept 3-0 in the regular season by Golden State.