Golden State Valkyries win first WNBA title in their second season

The Golden State Valkyries won the WNBA championship in only their second season, beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in a deciding Game 7 of the Finals on Saturday night. The WNBA is the United States' top professional women's basketball league, and this was the first time its Finals had gone to a seventh game.

Williams takes over

The central figure was 30-year-old Gabby Williams, who scored 30 points, 28 of them in the final 20 minutes. She had only two points in the first half, with Golden State trailing by six at the break. She then scored 15 in the third quarter, including the team's last 11 points of the period, and the Valkyries led 45-44 entering the fourth.

With the game tied at 53, Williams scored nine straight points, among them a deep three-pointer that made it 60-57 with 2:18 left. The team did not give up the lead after that. She also contributed on defense with four blocks; she was the runner-up for the league's Defensive Player of the Year award.

Williams had won a college title earlier but came up short with France at international level, losing to the US by a point in the 2024 Paris Olympic final and again in the FIBA women's World Cup this September. She became only the second player in WNBA history, after Penny Taylor of Phoenix in 2007, to score 30 or more points in a winner-take-all Finals game.

Atlanta falls short

For the Dream, Jordin Canada scored 18 points, Allisha Gray added 16, and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds. Atlanta missed out on a championship at the fourth attempt.

Coach Natalie Nakase called Williams the team's closer who stayed patient. Teammate Veronica Burton said that once Williams got going, there was no stopping her. Williams said she had joined a group full of love that changed the trajectory of her career.