SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Golden State Valkyries needed only two seasons to reach the top of the WNBA. Golden State beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 at Chase Center on Saturday night in the first Game 7 the WNBA Finals have ever produced, taking the series four games to three.
Gabby Williams carried the Valkyries after a slow start. She had one field goal before halftime, then scored 28 of her 30 points in the second half, which the Dream called a Finals record for a single half. Williams was named Finals MVP. Her 30 points matched the mark Penny Taylor of Phoenix set in 2007 as the only other 30-point night in a deciding Finals game.
Atlanta led 30-24 at the break and pushed the margin to 37-28 midway through the third quarter. Williams then hit three straight shots from beyond the arc and scored the final 11 Golden State points of the period, and the Valkyries carried a 45-44 edge into the fourth.
The Dream drew even twice late. Rhyne Howard tied it at 57 with 2:41 to go, and Williams answered with a long 3 from about 31 feet. She added two free throws with 1:40 left, and Kiah Stokes scored on a putback. Allisha Gray made two foul shots with 11 seconds left to bring Atlanta within a point, but Veronica Burton came up with a jump ball and sank two free throws with 5.1 seconds remaining to seal it.
Stokes finished with 13 rebounds and two blocks and now owns four WNBA titles. Jordin Canada scored 18 for Atlanta and Gray had 16, the only two Dream players in double figures. Angel Reese was held to eight points with 12 rebounds by the league’s top defense.
Atlanta shot 33.3% from the floor and made just 6 of 30 attempts from 3-point range. The Dream were chasing their first title in their fourth Finals trip and the fourth championship for an Atlanta pro team, after the Braves in 1995 and 2021 and Atlanta United in 2018.
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