{"id":500890,"date":"2026-10-19T09:14:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T09:14:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/500890\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T09:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T09:14:15","slug":"golden-state-valkyries-first-finals-win-brings-bay-area-fans-together-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/500890\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden State Valkyries’ first Finals win brings Bay Area fans together | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here for updates on this story<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX<\/a>) — The final buzzer sounded, and the Oakland Athletic Club erupted. Fans screamed, hugged and exchanged high-fives as the Golden State Valkyries secured a 68-64 victory over the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n

For the couple hundred fans packed into the watch party, the four-point win was more than a thrilling start to the championship series. It was another milestone for a team that has captured the Bay Area’s imagination in just its second season.<\/p>\n

“What I like about the Valkyries is that they never stopped playing no matter what,” said Berlena Gullett, a 69-year-old Oakland resident. “And they always come out on top at the end.”<\/p>\n

The Oakland Athletic Club and nearby Xingones were among the popular spots for fans to gather Saturday, drawing supporters from different generations to cheer on the Valkyries.<\/p>\n

For Gullett, the team’s success also represents an opportunity to give women’s sports the recognition they deserve.<\/p>\n

“It’s important to lift up women’s sports,” she said. “I think a lot of times, we’re an afterthought. All the energy goes towards the men’s sports.”<\/p>\n

The atmosphere was filled with excitement as fans rode the emotional swings of a tightly contested game. The Valkyries held off Atlanta to claim their first victory in the franchise’s first WNBA Finals appearance.<\/p>\n

Amber Gautam, a Valkyries superfan, said she was not surprised to see the team reach the championship stage.<\/p>\n

“I’m not shocked they’ve made it this far,” Gautam said. “They’re such a fun team. They have such a love for each other too, and it makes it so fun to watch for me.”<\/p>\n

For longtime supporters, the team’s unexpected rise has made the moment even sweeter.<\/p>\n

Cathleen Otvos, an 85-year-old Oakland resident, offered a blunt assessment of the excitement surrounding the team’s playoff run.<\/p>\n

“For some of us, it’s better than sex,” Otvos said.<\/p>\n

Beyond the basketball, the watch party offered a chance for fans to come together around a shared source of pride at a time when divisions often dominate the public conversation.<\/p>\n

“This is what we need. We are living in a very fractured time,” Gullett said. “So anything that brings us together and reminds us that we are more alike than not, it’s a good thing.”<\/p>\n

With the Valkyries now one win into the WNBA Finals, Gullett is already looking ahead.<\/p>\n

“I believe the Valkyries are going to win the championship,” she said.<\/p>\n

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Click here for updates on this story \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — The final buzzer sounded, and the Oakland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[100,143,145,144,127],"class_list":["post-500890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}