Valkyries Beat The Dream 68–63 In Game 7 To Win Their First WNBA Title In Their Second Season

SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68–63 in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center on Saturday night, winning the first championship in franchise history in just the team’s second season. Gabby Williams scored a game-high 30 points — 28 of them in the second half — as Golden State came back from nine points down to win the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history and take the best-of-seven series four games to three. Atlanta, which led 30–24 at halftime, is still seeking its first title.

A Defensive Game, Decided Late

Golden State opened the game with an 8–0 run while Atlanta missed its first 10 shots, but the Dream recovered to trail only 14–12 after the first quarter and then outscored the Valkyries 18–10 in the second to lead by six at the break. Jordin Canada had 13 of her 18 points in the first half for Atlanta, and the Dream pushed the lead to nine points before the game turned. Golden State won the third quarter 21–14 to lead 45–44, and the fourth 23–19, closing out a game in which neither team reached 70 points. The combined 131 points reflected the defensive series the Finals had been all along: four of the seven games were decided by nine points or fewer.

Williams Takes Over The Second Half

Williams was held to two points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half. She scored 15 points in the third quarter to erase Atlanta’s lead, then 13 more in the fourth to finish it. Her final line was 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocks. NBC Sports Bay Area reported that Williams was named the Finals’ most valuable player. “All it took was good people. That’s it,” Williams said. Tiffany Hayes scored 11 points for Golden State despite being hobbled in the third quarter before returning, and Veronica Burton recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Kiah Stokes added eight points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Hayes and Burton were the only other Valkyries in double figures.

Atlanta’s Lead Slips Away

Canada led the Dream with 18 points, four rebounds and five assists, and Allisha Gray scored 16. But the Atlanta backcourt that had carried Game 6 went quiet at the wrong time: Rhyne Howard, who picked up two fouls in the first quarter, finished with six points on 3-of-14 shooting and missed all seven of her 3-point attempts, and Angel Reese was held to eight points on 3-of-7 shooting, though she grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds. Atlanta had forced this game with an 80–69 win in Game 6 on Thursday, when it led by as many as 25 points; on Saturday the Dream led by nine and could not hold it. One Atlanta milestone came in defeat: DeWanna Bonner’s second rebound of the night made her the first player in WNBA history with 600 career postseason defensive rebounds.

Champions In Year Two

The championship completes a two-season rise without precedent in the league. Golden State was awarded its franchise in 2023 and debuted in 2025, finishing 23–21 and becoming the first expansion team in WNBA history to reach the playoffs in its first season. CNN reported that the Valkyries are now the fastest expansion team in any of the major North American sports leagues to win a championship, doing so in their second year; the Milwaukee Bucks, who won the NBA title in their third season, 1970–71, previously held that mark. The title also kept a promise made by team owner Joe Lacob, who said when the franchise was awarded that Golden State would win a championship within its first five years. The Finals themselves were new territory: the best-of-seven format began in 2025, when Las Vegas swept Phoenix, and no WNBA Finals had ever required a seventh game. The series swung throughout — Golden State took Game 1, 68–64, Atlanta routed Game 3, 97–71, Golden State’s 64–55 Game 5 win put it one victory away, and Atlanta’s Game 6 win forced Saturday’s decider, played at a Chase Center the home crowd had renamed “Boohalla” for Halloween.

What The Books Had

On the Davies Daily Wagers board, DraftKings made Golden State a 1.5-point favorite with a total of 144.5 and the Valkyries at −112 on the moneyline against −108 for Atlanta; FanDuel had Golden State at −110, and Kalshi priced both teams at 51 percent with a total of 142.5. Golden State covered the 1.5 points, and the game’s 131 points stayed well under both totals.