Gabby Williams powers Valkyries past defending champion Aces in Game 1 of WNBA semifinals

Gabby Williams had 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, Kiah Stokes added 14 rebounds and three blocked shots, and the Golden State Valkyries took Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals by beating the defending champion Las Vegas Aces 71-60 on Sunday in San Francisco.

A’ja Wilson scored 24 points while Chelsea Gray contributed 16 points for Las Vegas, which lost guard Jewell Loyd to a left leg injury early in the third quarter, and was held to its lowest point total of the season. The team said she was being evaluated and coach Becky Hammon didn’t have an immediate update afterward.

Playing to chants of “Gabby! Gabby!” from the sellout crowd at Chase Center, Williams scored 18 of her points on 6-for-10 shooting in the first half, including a three-pointer that put Golden State ahead 32-23 with 5:43 left before halftime.

That defeaning “Ballhalla” home crowd turned the arena into a sea of violet-colored T-shirts and energy the Valkyries have so counted on in their first two seasons. Fans waved and cheered when the final buzzer sounded and confetti fell.

Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night back at Chase Center.

“The goal here is to win our home games, so yes we did well for the first game but the Aces are championship-caliber, they know what it takes to win,” Stokes said. “I know in their locker room they’re not happy with how they played so their whole goal is to come to our house and still win games, so they still have the opportunity to do that. Going forward we know that we need to come out on Wednesday and make sure we set the tone again.”

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase was well enough to coach after she went down on the sideline near Golden State’s bench with 1:40 remaining Friday night in a 77-73