WNBA playoff takeaways: Valkyries outlast Wings to advance to semifinals

Sometimes it's not the total number of points, but when you get them. 

In her post-game interview on ESPN2, Williams acknowledged that she was not happy with her performance but credited her teammates for helping to lift her. And there was, in fact, a lot of balance in Golden State's offense. The Valkyries had four different players reach double digits, including three players that topped the 15-point mark. 

That included 28 points off the bench.

Dallas simply did not have that depth, with only eight bench points and 47 of its 77 points coming from the duo of Arike Ogunbowale and Paige Bueckers. They are great players, but it takes more than two great players to get through a playoff series.

Golden State's 16-point comeback is also the fifth-largest ever in a winner-take-all game in WNBA history. 

Golden State took a valuable lesson from Game 2 loss

That lesson: Don't let Ogunbowale get a 3-point shot late in the game.

With the Valkyries leading by three points in the closing seconds of Game 2, they elected not to foul and allowed Ogunbowale to hit a stunning 3-point shot to tie the game and send it to overtime. Dallas would eventually win, while Ogunbowale set a WNBA single-game playoff scoring record.

On Friday? In a nearly identical situation late in the fourth quarter? The Valkyries fouled, and Dallas never had a chance to get off a potentially game-tying shot.

Arike Ogunbowale did everything she could for Dallas

Even though Dallas' season came to an end on Friday, there was not a single better player on the floor in Games 2 and 3 than Ogunbowale. At least not offensively.

After scoring 45 points in Game 2, she followed that up with a 30-point effort in Game 3, and did it while playing through a leg injury that briefly forced her out of the game. 

Considering where Dallas came from over the previous two years, winning just 19 games total, this season was a massive success, even if it resulted in a first-round loss. Ogunbowale was a huge part of them getting there and even having a chance to advance. Now it is time for the Wings to get her and Bueckers some help for next season and beyond.