Valkyries Win the WNBA Title in the League's First Game 7
Seven Lights
The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night at Chase Center in San Francisco to win the WNBA championship in the first Game 7 in the league’s history.
Gabby Williams scored 30 points and was named the finals most valuable player. Most of her points came in the second half. The Valkyries trailed by six at the interval before Williams took control of the game. The forward’s performance carried the franchise to a title in only its second season.
Point guard Veronica Burton said that at half-time Williams seemed ready to take over. Kaila Charles embraced Tiffany Hayes as the final buzzer sounded, and Kayla Thornton shouted towards the rafters as the Valkyries gathered at the centre of the court to lift the trophy.
“It [happened in] two years, that’s insane,” the Valkyries owner Joe Lacob said. “It’s just a lot of good decisions, a lot of good execution, a great coach.”
The series went the full seven games. Golden State won the opener 68-64 on October 17 and the fourth and fifth games, while Atlanta took the second game 79-65, the third, and the sixth 80-69 on Thursday to force a decider. Golden State had beaten Dallas in the first round and swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to reach the finals.
The Game 7 was the first in WNBA history. The league expanded the finals to a best-of-seven format last season, but the Las Vegas Aces then swept Phoenix in four games.
The season opened with the arrival of two expansion clubs, the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire. The Tempo’s Marina Mabrey scored 53 points in a single game, a WNBA record. The Minnesota Lynx finished with the best regular-season record. The Valkyries, who began play two seasons ago, close the year as champions, with the finals carried in the United States on NBC, USA Network and CNBC and streamed on Peacock.