Sika Lopez took 11-year-old daughter Kendra out of school to be part of the early morning watch party outside Chase Center cheering for the Golden State Valkyries.

Allisha Gray scored 23 points and Rhyne Howard had 21 as the hot-shooting Atlanta Dream held off Golden State’s late rally to take an 80-69 victory over the Valkyries in Game 6 to pull even in the WNBA Finals.

Much like Warriors coach Steve Kerr did in 2015 moving Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the franchise's first championship in 40 years, Natalie Nakase shook up Golden State's starters for Game 4 of the WNBA Finals against Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream, and it paid off with her Valkyries evening the best-of-seven series at 2 all as it heads back to the Bay Area for Game 5 on Monday night.

Kayla Thornton scored 18 points and the second-year Golden State Valkyries became the quickest expansion team to reach the WNBA Finals, sweeping the defending champion Las Vegas Aces 87-77 in overtime Friday night in Game 3.

Veronica Burton hit a deep 3-pointer that put Golden State ahead with 41 seconds left and converted two free throws in the closing seconds, Tiffany Hayes had 21 points, and the Valkyries held off the Las Vegas Aces 83-81 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five WNBA semifinal series.

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.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist A’ja Wilson will take part in a USA Basketball training camp in Phoenix during Final Four week.

Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton will be out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Veronica Burton had 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Kayla Thornton added 18 points and eight boards, and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Indiana Fever 80-61 to spoil Caitlin Clark’s return.

Caitlin Clark has picked Indiana teammate Aliyah Boston No. 1 while Napheesa Collier took her Unrivaled business partner Breanna Stewart first in the WNBA All-Star Game draft.

Kayla Thornton, Gabby Williams, Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron will be making their All-Star debuts in Indianapolis later this month as they were all chosen on Sunday as reserves for the game.

The fans in the packed arena were decked out in matching purple T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “First of a Lifetime.”.

Streamer Kai Cenat, comedian-creator Druski and musical artists Mickey Guyton and Shaboozey have been announced as participants in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, while multi-platinum rapper 2 Chainz was named a coach.

The New York Liberty have been building chemistry on and off the court and it’s paid off.

Two WNBA players were among a dozen Americans who opted to play in Russia this past offseason following Brittney Griner’s incarceration in 2022.

The New York Liberty traded for 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones as part of a three-team deal with the Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings.

The Dallas Wings basically control the WNBA draft on Thursday night with the top two picks and four first-round choices.