{"id":954134,"date":"2026-11-01T08:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T08:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954134\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T08:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T08:32:11","slug":"golden-state-valkyries-defeat-atlanta-dream-to-capture-first-wnba-crown-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/954134\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden State Valkyries defeat Atlanta Dream to capture first WNBA crown | Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a near-single-handed performance, Gabby Williams helped the Golden \u2060\u2060State Valkyries defeat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in game seven of the Women\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals to give the West Coast franchise a championship in the second year of its existence.<\/p>\n

Williams scored 28 of her game-high 30 \u200c\u200cpoints in the second half to force a turnaround and bag the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in San Francisco, California, on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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Kiah Stokes converted a Williams miss into a key hoop with 53 \u2060\u2060seconds left to the deafening cheers of \u201cBallhalla\u201d, as the Valkyries\u2019 home crowd is known at the Chase Center.<\/p>\n

In what was mostly a defensive struggle, Williams made the difference in the end, including winning a jump ball over Allisha Gray with 8.3 seconds to go.<\/p>\n

With the likes of former San Francisco Giants \u2060\u2060superstar Barry Bonds and multiple NBA title-winner Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors rooting her on, Veronica Burton was fouled with 5.1 seconds remaining and produced the final points in the Valkyries\u2019 storybook season.<\/p>\n

\"SANKiah Stokes and Gabby Williams celebrate after winning [Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n

On a night when the WNBA had its first game seven<\/a> in a championship final series, strength in numbers was credited with propelling the second-year franchise to historic heights.<\/p>\n

From owner Joe Lacob to coach Natalie Nakase and MVP Williams, one number stood out: 18,064.<\/p>\n

\u201cBallhalla,\u201d Lacob screamed into a microphone in tribute to the capacity crowd during the trophy ceremony.<\/p>\n

Williams overcame a two-point first half to become the first player in WNBA postseason history to score 28 points in a half.<\/p>\n

The Valkyries\u2019 only All-Star, who was added as a free agent in the offseason, joined Lacob in thanking a crowd that has sold out every game in franchise history, setting league attendance records.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, everyone here, not just the players and the staff. [Also] the community, the city, the [San Francisco] Bay [Area],\u201d she gushed on court shortly after having been named the MVP.<\/p>\n

\u201cY\u2019all have been pouring into me all season. It\u2019s a long season and y\u2019all gave me energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the energy is this good and positive, it\u2019s easy to come to work every day. That\u2019s what I came here for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OctGabby Williams holds up the Most Valuable Player trophy [Kelley L Cox\/Reuters]<\/p>\n

Playing 38 of the game\u2019s 40 minutes, Williams saved enough energy to do a Stephen Curry impersonation on a go-ahead three-pointer with two minutes\u00a0and\u00a018 seconds (2:18) to go and later win a key jump ball, and Kiah Stokes converted a rare Williams late miss into a key hoop with 53 seconds left, sending the violet-clad crowd into a frenzy.<\/p>\n

In the end, Nakase recognised the enormity of piecing together a bunch of players left unprotected in the expansion draft, a handful of international imports and one key free-agent signing into the league\u2019s second-best regular-season record and a victory in the first-ever game seven in WNBA history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is for all the people out there who are underrated, misunderstood. This is for all y\u2019all,\u201d she insisted from midcourt to her home fans and a national television audience as well. \u201cThis is proof: If you put all your heart and all your soul [into it], you can win championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rallying from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter, the Valkyries were tied at 53-all midway through the fourth after Gray connected on a short jumper for Atlanta with 5:14 to play.<\/p>\n

Williams, after spearheading an earlier rally, came alive again. She hit two free throws with 3:34 to go and a driving hoop 32 seconds later as the teams exchanged baskets. She then buried arguably the most important shot in Valkyries\u2019 history \u2014 a 31-footer to give Golden State the lead for good at 60-57 with 2:18 to go.<\/p>\n

She added two free throws, and when Stokes tipped in her teammate\u2019s miss in the final minute, Chase Center erupted as Golden State had a 64-57 advantage that it was able to protect through the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t let anyone put a limit on us all year,\u201d demanded Burton, who backed Williams with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. \u201cWhen you work hard, and you put your head down and drive, anything\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019s 30 points were her second-most in a playoff game, topped only by the 36 she had in game two of Golden State\u2019s first-round series win over the Dallas Wings on September 30. She made 10 of her 23 field-goal attempts on Saturday when neither team shot well.<\/p>\n

She set records for most points (137) and most steals (18) in a WNBA Finals. She also found time for four of Golden State\u2019s eight blocks in the championship game.<\/p>\n

\"SANVeronica Burton and her Golden State Valkyries teammates react at the final buzzer [Heather Diehl\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n

Besides holding Dream star Angel Reese to eight points, Stokes had a game-high 13 rebounds for the Valkyries, who won despite making just five of their 20 three-point shots. The Golden State centre also had two blocks, giving her a WNBA Finals-record 19 en route to her fourth title.<\/p>\n

Tiffany Hayes also aided the Golden State cause with 11 points.<\/p>\n

Jordin Canada had 18 points and Gray 16 for Atlanta, which shot just 33.3 percent overall (23 of 69) and went 6-for-30 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just grateful I got to go to war with this group,\u201d Reese, who led Atlanta with 12 rebounds, assured the media afterwards. \u201cIt\u2019s tough in the moment, but we\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dream coach Karl Smesko lamented what he called \u201ca lot of little stretches\u201d of subpar play, including a game-opening 5:19 in which Atlanta went scoreless, falling behind 8-0 while missing eight straight shots \u2014 four three-pointers and four shots from inside the arc that were all blocked \u2014 and tossing in four turnovers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beyond frustrating that we didn\u2019t accomplish what we set out to accomplish,\u201d he admitted at his postgame news conference. \u201cThose first five minutes \u2026 you can\u2019t get those five minutes back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SANAngel Reese of the Atlanta Dream leaves the court after the game [Heather Diehl\/Getty Images via AFP]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a near-single-handed performance, Gabby Williams helped the Golden \u2060\u2060State Valkyries defeat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[461,49,48,457,82,772,1690,630,1297],"class_list":["post-954134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-wnba","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}