Valkyries are playoff bound again in 2nd year after beating Dallas 78-70 behind Williams' 23 points

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gabby Williams had 23 points and seven rebounds, Veronica Burton added 16 points and five assists, and the Golden State Valkyries clinched a playoff berth by beating the Dallas Wings 78-70 on Monday night for their sixth straight victory.

Golden State (25-9) has already surpassed its win total from last season by two and will get another chance on the postseason stage after becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season of 2025. The Valkyries lost to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx by one point in Game 2 of their first-round matchup.

Golden State center Kiah Stokes played 23 minutes in her return from the concussion protocol after she missed last Wednesday's home win against Chicago.

Another sellout crowd at Chase Center cheered the team to its 15th win in the last 17 games overall — among those fans Warriors star Stephen Curry, son Canon, and some teammates.

The Valkyries took off in the second quarter after another slow start, ending the first half on an 11-0 run on the way to a 44-28 lead at the break. Golden State began 3 for 13 while Dallas made seven of its first 10 shots to go ahead 15-8.

Valkyries reserve guard Tiffany Hayes hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just inside half court to end the first quarter and put her team ahead 20-19. Hayes finished with 10 points and a pair of 3s as the Valkyries shot 12 for 36 from long range. Janelle Salaun also scored 10 points off the bench.

Paige Bueckers scored 21 points and brought the Wings back down the stretch. Arike Ogunbowale added 17 while Alanna Smith had 13 and five rebounds for the Wings, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

Wings: Host Indiana on Thursday night.

Valkyries: Host Minnesota on Wednesday night.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Dallas Wings guard Sug Sutton (0) controls the ball while being defended by Golden State Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen (2) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale, left, drives to the basket against Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton during the second half of a WNBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) shoots against Golden State Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini (24) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (22) brings the ball up the court against the Dallas Wings during the first half of a WNBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton, left, blocks a shot by Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard (32) and center Kiah Stokes (41) defends during the first half of a WNBA basketball game in San Francisco, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

MIAMI (AP) — A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law is set to be executed Tuesday, continuing the state's aggressive use of the death penalty in Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ' final term.

William Frances Silvia, 61, would be the 13th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, which has two more executions scheduled in September and has carried out more than half of the nation's 22 executions so far in 2026.

Silvia is scheduled to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke starting at 6 p.m. local time.

A final appeal was still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Silvia was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder for the deadly 2006 attack on Patricia Silvia, along with her mother, Betty Woodard.

According to court records, Silvia purchased a shotgun that year and then went to Woodard’s Orlando-area home, where his wife had been living since their separation two months earlier. The family was in the middle of a cookout when Silvia arrived, and after an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile, authorities said Silvia retrieved the shotgun from his truck and shot the two women.

William Silvia was first sentenced to death following his 2008 trial. A court later vacated that sentence following an appeal related to Florida's death penalty sentencing procedures, but after being granted a new death penalty phase in 2018, he was again sentenced to death.

A Florida state agency, the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, provides legal representation to death row inmates. Silvia's attorneys have argued that the agency couldn't provide adequate legal assistance because it was already helping another death row inmate. The Florida Supreme Court rejected the appeal.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with 19, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so.

Two more executions are planned in Florida next month. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is scheduled to die on Sept. 1, followed by Daniel Owen Conahan Jr., 72, on Sept. 10.

Lucas was convicted of fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends.

Conahan was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man that he had paid to pose for nude photos, and authorities suspect him of similar homicides committed in the 1990s in southwest Florida.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

FILE - Law enforcement vehicles sit parked outside the Florida state prison in Starke, Fla., on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/David Fischer, file)