Williams Scores 26 as Valkyries Rally Past Dream 68-64 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals

SAN FRANCISCO · SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2026

Atlanta had Game 1 of the WNBA Finals in its hands for the better part of three hours. The Dream led after the first quarter, led after the third, and led 64-61 with 3:12 to play on Saturday afternoon at Chase Center. Then the scoring simply stopped. Atlanta did not score another point. Golden State closed the game on a 7-0 run made entirely of free throws, and the Valkyries — a franchise playing the first Finals game of its second year of existence — beat the Dream 68-64 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

This was a Finals game won in the mud. ESPN's box score and Sportradar's match record agree on the shape of it: Golden State shot 25 of 78 from the field, Atlanta 21 of 64, both sides sitting at roughly 32 percent. The Valkyries won the game on the glass, 57 rebounds to 47, and at the rim, where they blocked 10 shots. In a series between the No. 2 seed and the No. 4 seed, with both franchises chasing the first championship in their history, Game 1 was less a showcase than a shoving match — and it was decided by the team that kept its nerve at the line when the baskets dried up completely.

The last 3:12, played at the line

Rhyne Howard's two free throws with 3:12 remaining gave Atlanta a 64-61 lead and, seemingly, control. The Dream had already survived their chances to lose this game: Kaila Charles blocked a Jordin Canada drive with 1:45 left, Angel Reese stole a Gabby Williams pass 1:41 from the end, and Atlanta still could not land the basket that would have closed it. Instead the ending belonged to Williams and the whistle. Williams pulled Golden State within one at the line with 2:15 to play, 64-63. After a Howard turnover, she went back to the stripe with 1:18 left and made both — 65-64, the Valkyries' first lead since the third quarter. Reese gave Atlanta one final opening with a steal at the 46-second mark, but the Dream came up empty again, and Reese's fifth foul with 23 seconds left sent Kiah Stokes to the line. Stokes made one of two for 66-64, and when Howard fouled Williams with four seconds remaining, Williams calmly made both. Seven points, all free throws, in the final 3:12. Atlanta's last field goal had come with 4:23 to play.

Sixteen points in one quarter

For a quarter, Williams looked like she might be the story for the wrong reasons. She went scoreless in the first, missing all four of her shots, while Reese powered Atlanta to a 22-14 lead with 11 of her 14 points in the opening period. Then the second quarter happened. Williams scored 16 points in the period — a career high for a single quarter, and, as USA Today noted, a total that ties Jonquel Jones for the third-most points in a quarter in WNBA Finals history. Golden State outscored Atlanta 28-17 in the quarter and took a 42-39 lead into half-time. Williams finished with a game-high 26 points on 7-of-8 free-throw shooting, and she was the only Valkyrie in double figures — a load she carried all the way into the closing seconds, when she personally scored six of the game's final seven points.

Atlanta's night, until it wasn't

The Dream will spend two days wondering how this one got away, because for long stretches they were the better team. Allisha Gray, playing her first game since October 4 after a minor procedure on her left hand, scored a team-high 19 points and went 8-for-8 at the line; Gray had told reporters she had "no concerns" about the hand, and she played like it. Reese finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Atlanta owned the third quarter 17-9 — sparked, per USA Today's courtside account, by a sideline pep talk from Reese that preceded five quick points from Howard — and took a 56-51 lead into the fourth. But the Dream's offense narrowed as the game tightened: eight points in the fourth quarter, none at all in the final 3:12, and Howard, their closer, held to 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Jordin Canada ran the game for 38 minutes, finishing with eight points and seven assists, but Atlanta never found the one more basket it needed.

The fourth quarter was costly in other ways, too. Naz Hillmon was called for a flagrant 1 foul on a reckless closeout early in the period, and Golden State turned the sequence into four points — a Cecilia Zandalasini free throw, then a Tiffany Hayes three on the retained possession — to cut the lead to three. Hayes later took a hard fall diving for a loose ball, was helped to her feet and walked to the locker room, and did not return. Howard gave Atlanta its own scare, staying down for about a minute after an awkward fall before returning. Through it all the building never quieted; Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Draymond Green were among those watching courtside as Ballhalla got its first Finals win.

What Game 1 means

Start with the streaks, because both of them bent on Saturday. Atlanta arrived unbeaten in the 2026 postseason, having swept Washington in the first round and New York in the semifinals; this was the Dream's first loss of these playoffs. Golden State, meanwhile, is now 4-0 against Atlanta this season — the Valkyries swept the three regular-season meetings (77-66 on June 24, 78-75 on June 26 and 88-83 on July 4) and have now taken the Finals opener at home. For Atlanta, in its fourth Finals appearance and its first since 2013, the math of the series is unchanged but the comfort is gone: the Dream must win a game in this building, against this defense, to take the series home with a chance. Golden State's support act behind Williams — Kiah Stokes with nine points, seven rebounds and four blocks, Charles with seven points and 10 rebounds off a night when almost nobody could shoot — suggests the Valkyries do not need to be pretty to win in this series. They need only be this stubborn.

Game 2 is Monday, October 19, back at Chase Center, tipping at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and CNBC. Atlanta gets one day to solve a defense that held it scoreless for the final 3:12 of a Finals game, and to find a second closing option behind Gray. Golden State gets one day to enjoy a lead it was never supposed to hold this comfortably, in a building that has not stopped believing since the franchise's first season. The Finals, on one afternoon of free throws and blocked shots, already have their shape.