Gabby Williams may have finished second in this year’s DPOY race, but for the Valkyries’ owner Joe Lacob, no one is better. After Golden State won Game 1 of the semifinals, 71-60, against the Las Vegas Aces, Lacob did not waste any time hyping up the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup’s Best Defensive Player award winner.

“Print this: Gabby Williams is the best player in the world,” said Lacob, per ESPN.

And Lacob was not shy about expressing his emotions. After the game, he yelled in elation upon seeing Williams in the hallway.

“There she is,” Lacob said while holding out his arms. “Best player in the world. No one is saying it, but they need to start saying it.”

Gabby Williams surely did her best to support Lacob’s argument. In a game where the Aces were the pregame favorites, Williams and Co. flipped the script. Williams finished the night as the top scorer of the game with 25 points, while shooting 9-of-18 from the field, as well as adding 11 rebounds and five assists.

Williams’ role was more nuanced than simply being the top scorer for her team. She ended up contributing for her team through scoring and assisting. And in the low-scoring game, Williams was instrumental in holding the Aces to just 33.9% shooting from the field.

The Valkyries’ dominance in the paint can also be evidenced by the fact that they thoroughly outrebounded the Aces. The Valkyries recorded a staggering 52 rebounds, as compared to the Aces’ 25. This gap was the second-largest in WNBA playoff history.

A’ja Wilson has been averaging 32.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game this postseason. So, stopping her has to be a priority for any team that aims to go past the defending champions. Even in this game, Wilson led the Aces in scoring, finishing with 24 points. So the reigning MVP was rightly the focus for Williams on the night.

“I’ve competed against A’ja my entire career, and she will go down in history as the best player to ever do it,” said Williams.

“This is what you dream about. You dream to play against players like that. Going up against them is all I care about. I just want to win.”

Aces HC Becky Hammon also pointed out they perhaps failed to execute the game plan they had in mind.

“All we talked about the last 48 hours was rebounding and blocking them out, and we did not do that. Period,” Hammon said.

“The good news is, we played like a– and only lost by 10.”

However, for Valkyries HC Natalie Nakase, more than Gabby Williams, it was Kiah Stokes who made the difference for them on the court.

“She made the difference tonight. Her discipline, her matching up with A’ja. She kept her off balance. She was vicious on the boards.”

Stokes finished the game with 0 points, but she was instrumental in holding the Aces to their lowest season total. This was also the Aces’ lowest playoff total since 2021.

This series is certainly going the way the Valkyries would have liked. After losing all three games to the Aces in the regular season, a section of analysts and fans were not sure if the Valkyries indeed had what it takes to take down the defending champions.

And having “Balhalla” behind them can be a deciding factor in the next game. The Aces have already shown in the previous series against the Fever that they are capable of turning the results in their favor at home, even after setbacks. So any advantage that the Valkyries can get, even a tiny one, can get them to the Finals.

Williams is translating her fine World Cup outing into the playoffs. While her team lost the gold medal game to the USA, Williams will hope that the story ends up a little differently this time around.

Game 2 of the five-game series will be played on Wednesday at the Chase Center in Las Vegas.