Champions in Year Two: Gabby Williams' 30 Lifts Valkyries Past Dream in Game 7

SAN FRANCISCO

The Golden State Valkyries are champions of the WNBA, and they got there the hard way — down six at halftime, down nine in the third quarter, and held together by a defense that refused to break until Gabby Williams decided the night was hers. Williams scored 28 of her 30 points in the second half on Saturday night, carrying Golden State to a 68-63 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center, in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,064. The first Game 7 in Finals history ended with violet confetti on the floor and a franchise that began play last season lifting the trophy.

Williams finished 10 of 23 from the field, 4 of 8 from beyond the arc and a perfect 6 of 6 at the line, with four blocked shots — and she was named Finals MVP, having averaged 19.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals across the seven games, according to the WNBA. Her 28 second-half points set a WNBA Finals record for points in a half (theScore), and she joined Penny Taylor, who did it for Phoenix in 2007, as the only players to score 30 in a winner-take-all Finals game. "I love moments like this," Williams said, via theScore. "(Coach) Natalie (Nakase) told me to be patient in the first half. I listened to her."

A first half that belonged to Atlanta

For a while, this looked like Atlanta's coronation getting crashed by nobody. Golden State actually opened the game on an 8-0 run while the Dream missed their first 10 field-goal attempts (ESPN), and the Valkyries led 14-12 after the first quarter. Then the offense simply vanished. Golden State started 0-for-10 from 3-point range and went more than seven minutes without a field goal in the second quarter before Kayla Thornton finally connected from deep (CNN). Atlanta, behind Jordin Canada's spark, won the second quarter 18-10 and took a 30-24 lead into the break. The Dream pushed the margin to nine, 37-28, midway through the third quarter — and that is exactly where the game turned.

The takeover

After baskets by Kiah Stokes and Cecilia Zandalasini trimmed the deficit to five, Williams caught fire in a way that will be replayed in the Bay Area for years. She scored 15 points in the third quarter, including three consecutive 3-pointers (ESPN), and Golden State outscored Atlanta 17–7 over the rest of the quarter to lead 45–44 entering the fourth. "Once she got going there was no stopping her," teammate Veronica Burton said, via theScore. "She hit shot after shot and got stop after stop. She gets it done on both sides of the floor."

The finish was a bare-knuckle trade of blows. Allisha Gray's short jumper tied the game at 53, and Williams answered with two free throws and a driving basket, each time giving Golden State a two-point lead Atlanta erased (Field Level Media). Then, with the shot clock nearly gone, Williams drilled a 31-foot 3-pointer to put the Valkyries up 60-57 with 2:18 to play — the lead they would not give back. She added two more free throws, and when Stokes tipped in a Williams miss with 53 seconds left, Golden State led 64-57 and Ballhalla shook. Gray's two free throws with 11 seconds left kept Atlanta breathing, but Williams won a jump ball over Gray with 8.3 seconds to go and clung to a 66-63 lead, and Burton — fouled with 5.1 seconds remaining — produced the final points of the season (Field Level Media). "Gabby is our closer," Nakase said, via ESPN. On the broadcast afterward, Williams put it more simply: "I wasn't going to lose on Halloween" (CNN).

Won on the defensive end

The glamorous half of the box score was Williams'. The decisive half was Golden State's defense. Atlanta shot just 33.3 percent (23 of 69) and 6-for-30 from beyond the arc, and had eight shots blocked — four of them by Williams (Field Level Media). The Dream were held under 65 points in each of their four losses in this series (RG.org). Golden State won the game making only five of its 20 3-point attempts. Burton posted a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, Stokes grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points, and Tiffany Hayes scored 11 on her way to her first WNBA title at age 37 (Associated Press). Stokes, who won three titles with Las Vegas before this one, finished the series with 19 blocked shots — a WNBA Finals record, according to the Valkyries — and added another championship ring to the collection.

Atlanta's wait goes on

Canada led the Dream with 18 points and five assists, Gray scored 16, and Angel Reese finished with eight points and 12 rebounds. Rhyne Howard endured a brutal night — six points on 3-of-14 shooting, 0-for-7 from deep. There was one milestone in defeat: DeWanna Bonner became the first player in WNBA history to reach 600 career postseason defensive rebounds, the league announced. But the larger fact is heavier. This was Atlanta's fourth trip to the Finals, after losses in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and the franchise is still searching for its first championship in 19 seasons. Reese, who arrived in an April trade from Chicago and reached the playoffs for the first time this season, told reporters afterward, according to ESPN: "Just because we didn't win today doesn't mean that we won't be champions in the future. We'll be back."

What Year 2 just proved

Context is what makes this title absurd. The Valkyries became the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season in 2025, then beat Dallas in the first round and swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals before surviving this seven-game war — a postseason run of nine wins and four losses. When owner Joe Lacob landed the franchise in October 2023, he promised a championship within its first five seasons (USA Today). It took two. Golden State also became, according to USA Today, the first team in the league's 30-year history to win a title without an All-WNBA player on its roster — a championship built on depth, defense and a closer. Game 7 was the club's 53rd consecutive home sellout, according to the team, which said details of a victory parade would be released Sunday morning. As Hayes put it during the celebrations, via USA Today: "This is just what happens when you invest in women's sports. Invest in women's sports, baby."

The series, game by game: Golden State took Game 1, 68-64; Atlanta answered in Game 2, 79-65, and routed Game 3, 97-71; the Valkyries steadied in Game 4, 67-62, and Game 5, 64-55; the Dream forced the decider with an 80-69 win in Game 6. Before tip-off, we previewed the first Game 7 in Finals history — and the night outran the preview. The offseason starts now, and the team Golden State swept to get here is among those with the biggest questions. But the last word belongs to the champions: two seasons in, the Valkyries are no longer an expansion story. They are the standard.