NBA

Golden State Valkyries at Seattle Storm

· Women's National Basketball Association
23-20, 9-12 Away
Final
74 - 73

23-21, 10-12 Home

Wheeler's go-ahead jumper gives Storm a 74-73 win over Valkyries to secure last WNBA playoff spot

Storm clinch playoff spot after hectic late sequence

Seattle (23-21) clinched the 20th postseason appearance in franchise history.

After Wheeler's pull-up jumper from the free-throw line, Janelle Salaun missed a shot in the lane but she got another chance following an offensive rebound. Salaun missed a corner 3-pointer and Wheeler secured the loose ball.

Nneka Ogwumike finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, Brittney Sykes scored 14 and Skylar Diggins had 10 points and six assists for Seattle. Wheeler was 5 of 7 on 3-pointers.

Salaun had 22 points and five 3-pointers for Golden State (23-20), which became the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season on Thursday. Temi Fagbenle scored 14 points and Veronica Burton had 14 points and 11 assists. Kaila Charles added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Golden State went on a 13-0 run — started by three straight 3-pointers by Salaun and Monique Billings — to take a 60-50 lead late in the third quarter. The Valkyries were 4 of 4 from distance in the third before missing their first six of the fourth.

Seattle scored the opening 10 points of the fourth, capped by a 3-pointer by Wheeler, to take a 63-61 lead.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 2-2

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 73 - 74
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 73 - 74
4th 0.0 (00:00) [Golden State Valkyries] REF-INITIATED REVIEW (CALL OVERTURNED) 73 - 74
4th 2.2 Erica Wheeler defensive rebound 73 - 74
4th 7.0 Janelle Salaun misses 22-foot three point step back jumpshot 73 - 74

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/gs.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originGS https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/wnba/500/sea.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSEA
26-65 FG 26-64
40 Field Goal % 41
10-29 3PT 7-17
34 Three Point % 41
11-14 FT 15-20
79 Free Throw % 75
35 Rebounds 37
10 Offensive Rebounds 13
25 Defensive Rebounds 24
18 Assists 18
9 Steals 4
4 Blocks 7
9 Turnovers 13
2 Team Turnovers 0
11 Total Turnovers 13
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
12 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 12
2 Fast Break Points 14
30 Points in Paint 30
16 Fouls 16
10 Largest Lead 3

Game Information

Climate Pledge Arena

Location: Seattle, WA
Attendance: 12,500 · Capacity:

2024-25 Western Conference Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Minnesota - 10 W1 0.77272725 34
Las Vegas 4 14 W16 0.6818182 30
Phoenix 7 17 L3 0.6136364 27
Seattle 11 21 W1 0.52272725 23
Golden State 11 21 L3 0.52272725 23
Los Angeles 13 23 L1 0.47727272 21
Dallas 24 34 W1 0.22727273 10
Full Standings

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