WNBA Finals Game 7: Golden State Valkyries Beat Atlanta Dream 68-63 for a First Title in Their Second Season
Gabby Williams scored 30 points - a WNBA-record 28 of them in the second half - as Golden State rallied past Atlanta 68-63 in the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, at Chase Center on Saturday night.
SAN FRANCISCO - The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions in their second season of existence. Golden State beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center, closing out the first winner-take-all Game 7 in Finals history.
Gabby Williams owned the second half. After scoring two points in the first half, Williams poured in 15 points in the third quarter and 13 more in the fourth - 28 second-half points, a WNBA record - on her way to a game-high 30 points and four blocks. Atlanta led by as many as nine points before Golden State stormed back in the third quarter behind her.
The title carries a distinction no champion before it can claim: Golden State is the first team in the league's 30-year history to win a championship without an All-WNBA player on its roster. The Valkyries joined the WNBA in 2025 as an expansion franchise and, one year later, won the whole thing.
Game 7 itself was a first. This was only the second season in which the WNBA Finals used a best-of-seven format, and it produced the first deciding seventh game in Finals history - a Saturday night finish that had 'wnba' among the most-searched topics in the United States as it ended.
