The WNBA semifinals 2026 tip off Sunday, October 4, and the first round already delivered a jolt. On September 27, the eighth-seeded New York Liberty walked into Minneapolis and beat the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx 91-75. Also on September 27, A’ja Wilson poured in 38 points as the Las Vegas Aces handled Indiana 102-85.

We put this guide together while the best-of-three first round was still being settled. Game 2s were set for September 29 and 30, with any Game 3s on October 1 and 2. So instead of guessing, we mapped every possible semifinal matchup, who would host, the full TV schedule, and the Black stars most likely to decide each series.

How the WNBA semifinals 2026 bracket works

The WNBA does not reseed after the first round. The official bracket sends the 1 vs. 8 and 4 vs. 5 winners into one semifinal, and the 2 vs. 7 and 3 vs. 6 winners into the other.

• Semifinals are best of five in a 2-2-1 format, starting October 4, per the official WNBA playoffs page.
• The higher seed hosts Games 1 and 2, plus Game 5 if it gets that far. The lower seed hosts Games 3 and 4, per the league format.
• The Finals are best of seven and begin October 17.

Every possible semifinal matchup

Seeds and records below come from the WNBA’s first-round preview. Screenshot this and check it against the final first-round scores.

First-round tracker (as of Sept. 29). Every series is best of three, and every higher seed won Game 1 except Minnesota. Game 2s are Tuesday, Sept. 29 (Aces at Fever, 6:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video; Lynx at Liberty, 8:30 p.m. ET on USA) and Wednesday, Sept. 30 (Dream at Mystics, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN; Valkyries at Wings, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN), per NBC Sports. Any Game 3s are Oct. 1 or 2. Game 1 results:

• Liberty 91, Lynx 75. Breanna Stewart scored 34, and both Napheesa Collier and Natasha Howard fouled out, per the WNBA recap.
• Aces 102, Fever 85. Wilson went 15 of 19 with 16 rebounds and 4 blocks.
• Dream 92, Mystics 77. Atlanta rallied from 11 down and set a franchise playoff record with 16 steals, per the AP via GPB.
• Valkyries 104, Wings 80. Golden State made 18 of 36 threes and outscored Dallas 37-11 in the second quarter, per NBC DFW.

Watch: New York Liberty vs. Minnesota Lynx | FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS | September 27, 2026 from WNBA

Save the dates: full semifinal schedule and TV

Both semifinals share the same dates. One series lands on the ESPN family and the other on NBCUniversal, per the schedules published by Bleacher Report and NBC Sports. In the list below, the first network carries one series and the second carries the other. Tip times are set once the matchups lock, so confirm on WNBA.com the morning of each game.

• Game 1, Sunday, Oct. 4: ABC | NBC and Peacock
• Game 2, Wednesday, Oct. 7: ESPN | Peacock and NBCSN
• Game 3, Friday, Oct. 9: ESPN2 | Peacock and NBCSN
• Game 4, Sunday, Oct. 11 (if needed): ABC | NBC and Peacock
• Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 14 (if needed): ESPN | Peacock and NBCSN
• WNBA Finals: Begin Saturday, Oct. 17, and can run as late as Oct. 31 on NBC, USA Network and Peacock.

How to watch without missing a game

This postseason is split across several networks, so a little planning saves you from hunting for the channel at tip-off. The semifinals are split between ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 on one side and NBC, Peacock and NBCSN on the other. According to TVLine, the Finals stream entirely on Peacock, with TV broadcasts on NBC or USA Network depending on the game.

• ESPN side: ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 games can also be streamed in the ESPN app with a TV provider login or an eligible ESPN subscription.
• NBC side: Peacock carries every NBC and NBCSN semifinal game on this schedule, which makes it the one subscription that covers a full series plus the Finals.
• Highlights: The league posts full game highlights on the WNBA YouTube channel, usually within a few hours of the final buzzer.

Black stars to watch

• A’ja Wilson, Aces: She led the WNBA in scoring and blocks for the third straight season, then opened the playoffs with 38 points and 16 rebounds. The Aces are the defending champions.
• Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, Aces: Young had 21 points and 10 assists in Game 1, and Gray added 14 points and 8 assists.
• Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, Fever: Boston led Indiana with 18 points in Game 1. Mitchell and Caitlin Clark combine for 47 points a night, so a Mitchell hot streak can flip any series.
• Angel Reese and Rhyne Howard, Dream: Reese is the league rebounding leader and Howard led the WNBA in steals. In Game 1, Howard scored 26 with 5 steals and Reese posted 13 points and 12 rebounds in her playoff debut.
• Allisha Gray and Jordin Canada, Dream: Gray scored 22 in Game 1 and Canada handed out 11 assists.
• Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin, Mystics: Two bigs who live on the glass. Iriafen had 15 points and 14 rebounds in Game 1, and Austin grabbed 16 boards.
• Natasha Howard, Courtney Williams and Kayla McBride, Lynx: Howard and Williams are All-Stars, and McBride scored 14 in Game 1 after a career year.
• Tiffany Hayes, Valkyries: The veteran scored 21 off the bench in Game 1.

Watch: Washington Mystics vs. Atlanta Dream | FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS | September 27, 2026 from WNBA

Storylines that could define the semis

• Can Las Vegas repeat? The defending champions closed the regular season on a seven-game win streak and look locked in again.
• History for the Valkyries. Golden State is chasing the first playoff series win in franchise history.
• Dallas, the comeback story. The Wings added 17 wins, the largest single-season turnaround in WNBA history, behind 2025 Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers.
• Droughts on the line. Washington flipped 16-28 into 28-16, and is chasing its first series win since 2019. Atlanta has not won a series since 2016.
• The Liberty as spoiler. New York won the season series with Minnesota 2-1 before stealing Game 1 on the road.

If you caught our WNBA playoffs preview, this is the next chapter. And if you are building your October around big games, our October culture calendar has the rest of the month’s dates in one place.

Who do you have coming out of each half of the bracket? Tell us in the comments and we will check back when the Finals tip on October 17.