{"id":898679,"date":"2026-10-29T11:34:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/898679\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T11:34:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:34:29","slug":"golden-state-valkyries-take-care-of-business-in-ballhalla-in-game-5-of-wnba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/898679\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden State Valkyries Take Care of Business in Ballhalla in Game 5 of WNBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a second win in a row against the Atlanta Dream, the Valks are one game away from securing the championship title. <\/p>\n

Oct 26, 2026<\/p>\n

Updated Oct 28, 2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Golden State Valkyries center Kiah Stokes (41) catches the ball as Atlanta Dream guard Jordin Canada (3) guards her during game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.\u00a0(Juliana Yamada\/KQED)<\/p>\n

After an action-packed WNBA Finals Game 5, the Golden State Valkyries<\/a> took care of business in Ballhalla on Monday \u2014 and are now one game away from taking home the championship title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In what\u2019s been a closely-balanced competition, the Valkyries carried the momentum garnered in Game 4 for a hard-fought 64-55 victory, giving them a 3-2 lead over the Atlanta Dream. It\u2019s an incredible rebound for Golden State after a 26-point loss in Game 3.<\/p>\n

They now return to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday, the first in the league\u2019s history, after breaking free from the best-of-five format.<\/p>\n

\"\"Golden State Valkyries center Aminata Gueye (31) and Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams (1) walk off the court after the Valkyries defeat the Atlanta Dream in game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.\u00a0(Juliana Yamada\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\"\"Hida Howard holds her three-year-old daughter Alaina Howard as the Golden State Valkyries play the Atlanta Dream in game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (22) reacts to a call as the Golden State Valkyries play the Atlanta Dream in game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

Game 5 started off with a solid first half \u2014 the Valkyries sought to get inside the paint and isolate Atlanta star Angel Reese. Players on both teams were working hard and it showed, energy appeared to dip in the second quarter, with the lowest scoring first half in WNBA finals history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the third quarter is typically a weak one for the Valkyries, they didn\u2019t have that problem in Game 5, where they scored 8 points in minutes, bringing an energy not seen in previous games. Center Kiah Stokes was a powerful force, shutting down Reese and picking up blocks while leading the Valks with a pair of three-pointers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the fourth quarter, tension in the stadium was amped all the way up. Fans let out a massive roar when it was announced they had two minutes left with a 14 point lead. Golden State held on throughout the night, limiting Reese to 7 points and carrying a nine point win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re an incredible team,\u201d Camillo said. \u201cOf course, so are the Dream, even if they\u2019re going to lose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some fans traveled to Atlanta for the last two games \u2014 including Valkyries guard Hayes\u2019 father, Renard, who told KQED after Game 4, \u201cWe want to beat them bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to send them back home with the thought in their mind, like, \u2018These guys are too good for us,\u2019\u201d Hayes said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Others traveled from Georgia, like Sug Parker, the former high school basketball coach of the Dream\u2019s guard Allisha Gray.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely amazing just going back and watching her grow as a player from high school, college and now in the pros and she\u2019s in the finals?\u201d Parker said. \u201cIt is beyond exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Golden State Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini (24) cheers during the fourth quarter in game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Golden State Valkyries bench reacts as they play the Atlanta Dream in game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Zendaya attends game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams (1) attempts a free throw as the Golden State Valkyries play the Atlanta Dream in game 5 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2026.<\/p>\n

Players and fans on both sides are also shaking off an embarrassing oversight surrounding the scheduling and planning around the potentially championship-clinching Game 6 \u2014 which lacked a venue until Monday morning.<\/p>\n

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that Game 6 would tip off at State Farm Arena on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, as not to conflict with the Atlanta Hawks game later that evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Veronica Burton, who scored 13 points in Monday\u2019s game, jokingly told fans during the post-game conference to call in sick on Thursday. Some fans who could adjust their workdays were already on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe already rescheduled meetings we had Thursday morning,\u201d said Kristen Rothballer, at Chase Stadium Monday night. \u201cWe\u2019re with them through the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

KQED\u2019s Sydney Johnson<\/a> contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a second win in a row against the Atlanta Dream, the Valks are one game away from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-898679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}