Gabby Williams Scores 30 as the Valkyries Beat the Dream 68-63 in Game 7 to Win the WNBA Championship
Two points at halftime, 28 after it: Williams authored the greatest second half in Finals history's first Game 7, and second-year Golden State is the fastest expansion team ever to win the title.
The first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history got a performance worthy of it. Gabby Williams scored 30 points — 28 of them after halftime — as the Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night at Chase Center to win the WNBA championship in just the franchise's second season, the fastest an expansion team has ever reached the title. Williams was named Finals MVP.
At halftime it looked like Atlanta's night: the Dream led 30-24 and Williams had made one field goal. Then she scored 13 straight points in the third quarter, including three consecutive 3-pointers, flipping a 37-32 deficit; she had 15 in the quarter as Golden State took a 45-44 lead into the fourth. With the game tied at 53 in the fourth, she scored nine straight Valkyries points, and her deep 3-pointer made it 60-57 with 2:18 left. She finished 10-for-23 from the field and 4-for-8 from three, tying Penny Taylor's 2007 record for points in a winner-take-all Finals game. "Gabby is our closer — she stayed patient, she stayed with it," coach Natalie Nakase said, as quoted by Sky Sports. "Closing with 30, that is incredible."
Tiffany Hayes scored 11 and Veronica Burton 10 for Golden State. For Atlanta, Jordin Canada scored 18, Allisha Gray 16, and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds as the Dream were denied a championship at their fourth attempt. The Valkyries' title closes a Finals that went the full seven games for the first time — and gives the league a second-year champion built, on its biggest night, almost entirely on one player's second half.
