Veronica Burton's And-1 with 22.3 seconds left was the dagger, as the Golden State Valkyries clinched their first postseason berth in the team's inaugural season, defeating the Dallas Wings 84-80 at Chase Center on Thursday night.

Up by two points with under 30 seconds to go, Burton took Paige Bueckers off the dribble and was able to finish at the rim with contact to put the game away with a five-point Valkyries lead.

Although the Valkyries finished the game with 84 points, the offense was not clicking to start the contest. The Valkyries were held scoreless in the opening three minutes of the game, falling behind 10-0, but clawed their way back, taking a one-point lead heading into the second quarter.

After falling behind again early in the second half, the Valkyries once again showed their fight, overcoming a 13-point deficit.

"This is awesome," Veronica Burton said postgame about the playoff berth. "It's a testament to all the work that we put in. It's a testament to the belief that our coaching staff had in us. [General Manager] Ohemaa [Nyanin], front office, all of them.

"To do it with the group that we did, just enjoying it. Soaking it in. Obviously, there is a long road ahead of us, but being able to sit in it and enjoy it and to do it in front of this crowd. It was really special. A moment I'll remember forever."

VALKYRIES CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH
The Valkyries clinched a postseason berth after their victory on Thursday night against the Dallas Wings. The Valkyries are the first-ever WNBA expansion team to reach the postseason during their inaugural season.

"I'm bittersweet in terms of, I'm supposed to do this," Natalie Nakase said postgame. "That's my mental, that's me kind of saying, it’s a must win. I told the girls, we intentionally picked you guys for this reason. To do things for the first. That was what Tip [Tiffany Hayes] said when we celebrated in the locker room. She goes, ‘we're the first.’ And I said, well, I intentionally all chose you guys as well. To do first things. Credit to Ohemaa [Nyanin], obviously Joe [Lacob] too as well, just the leadership. It starts there. And it's the support. It's the motivation. Joe pushes me. He really does push me to not just settle and not just be mediocre. So I credit that. And then the players were intentionally chosen to do a lot of the first.”

The Valkyries currently sit in sixth place in the WNBA standings, trailing the New York Liberty by one game for the fifth seed, and leading the Seattle Storm by 1.5 games for the seventh seed. >> Full Playoff Picture

BURTON COMES UP CLUTCH
Veronica Burton scored seven points in the final 23 seconds of the game to put the game out of reach. Burton finished the game with 15 points and a team-high-tying five assists.

JANELLE LEADS THE OFFENSE
Janelle Salaün scored in double figures for the 11th time in her past 13 games, scoring a team-high 19 points.

Nine of her 19 points came in the fourth quarter, including three clutch free throws in the final minute of the contest.

THIRD QUARTER CLOSE
The Valkyries closed the third quarter on a 17-8 run to cut their deficit to just four points heading into the final frame. Carla Leite scored six points during the span, able to get downhill on the Wings defense and finish at the rim.

UP NEXT
The Valkyries host the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday in their home finale (5:30 p.m.; KPIX+ (Bay Area), KION (Monterey)) before finishing their season on the road against the Seattle Storm and Minnesota Lynx.

“They like challenges," Natalie Nakase said of the Valkyries roster. "I think, in all honesty, if you interview every single player on our team, they love challenges. They love to be pushed. They're not afraid of it, and I think that's what kind of cool is, we like to be uncomfortable, and not a lot of people like to be uncomfortable. They don't like to be pushed. They kind of sometimes like to be stagnant. But I don't have that.

"I have 13 players that love to be pushed, be uncomfortable; and at the same time, when someone's uncomfortable, they're also supportive. I can hear in our timeouts that people who were not in, they were encouraging, encouraging. ‘Come on, guys. Keep fighting. I know we're a little exhausted, but keep fighting, keep pushing.’ And that's what I was hearing, and that's great. That's when I think what V (Veronica Burton) was saying is, we're continuing to push each other, have each other's back at all times…Our bench stepped up tonight. So that was really key. Anyone, anytime can step up and be ready. I think that's what's kind of needed, the layer that we could go into the playoffs knowing anybody can play.”