Gabby Williams scored 28 of her 30 points after halftime Saturday night as the Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7, capturing a WNBA championship in just the franchise's second season.
It was the first Game 7 in Finals history. The league expanded its championship round from five games to seven last year.
Williams takes over
Williams, the Finals MVP, had two points at the break with Golden State trailing 30-24, and Atlanta pushed its lead to 37-28 midway through the third quarter. She then scored the Valkyries' final 13 points of the period, including three 3-pointers in 56 seconds, and her turnaround jumper put them ahead 45-44 going into the fourth.
Her second-half total was the most anyone has scored in a half in WNBA postseason history.
The decisive shot came with the score tied at 57, when Williams hit a 31-footer with 2:18 left to give Golden State the lead for good. Kiah Stokes later scored on a putback for a 64-57 edge, and Veronica Burton sealed the win at the line.
Burton finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Tiffany Hayes scored 11, and Stokes added eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.
Atlanta goes cold
Jordin Canada led Atlanta with 18 points and Allisha Gray had 16, but the Dream shot 33.3% and went 6-for-30 from 3-point range. Rhyne Howard scored six points on 3-for-14 shooting and missed all seven of her 3-point tries.
Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds but committed four turnovers. She took no field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter, when her only point came on a free throw.
Reese had put Atlanta in front in the series with 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2, then 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3, for a 2-1 lead. Natalie Nakase, the reigning Coach of the Year, responded by shortening her rotation and changing her starting lineup, and Golden State took the next two games before an 80-69 Atlanta win on Thursday forced the deciding game.
A fast climb for an expansion team
Golden State's climb began with a 23-21 debut season and a first-round playoff exit, which still made it the only expansion team to reach the postseason in its first year. The team then signed Williams and brought in Stokes from the Las Vegas Aces. The Valkyries went 32-12 this season and eliminated Dallas and Las Vegas on the way to the Finals.
All we heard last year: We don't have no stars, we don't have no talent
Gabby Williams, Finals MVP
Atlanta swept Washington and New York to get there but remains winless in four Finals appearances.
The schedule dispute
Atlanta's owners also complained publicly about the schedule. Game 6 tipped off at 12:30 p.m. Thursday because the Hawks had State Farm Arena that night, and the Dream's regular home, Gateway Center Arena, holds just 3,500 people, compared with about 17,000.
The owners said they flagged the conflict two months ago, when playoff dates were set, and again during the postseason, without getting the urgency they wanted. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league preferred State Farm Arena for the game, which sold out despite the early start.
This incredible run by our players has also made something else abundantly clear: the Atlanta Dream has earned the right to be taken seriously
Atlanta Dream ownership group
Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the Warriors' owners, also control the Valkyries. A $1 billion valuation in May made them the first WNBA team to reach that mark, and they have sold out every home game at Chase Center across two seasons.
The league said 3.8 million fans attended 330 regular-season games this year, a record, with average attendance up 21% from last year's high.
