Valkyries Take Game 1 Behind Gabby Williams

Gabby Williams scored a game-high 26 points when the Golden State Valkyries needed her most. They beat the Atlanta Dream 68-64 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center in San Francisco, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

It wasn’t an easy night. Golden State shot poorly for much of the game, and no other Valkyries player reached double figures. Williams carried the load through the final minutes. With 1 minute and 18 seconds left, Golden State trailed by one. Williams grabbed a rebound after Atlanta’s Allisha Gray missed, then drew a foul from Angel Reese. She made both free throws to put the Valkyries ahead 65-64. With 4.1 seconds remaining, she sank two more to seal the win.

A Slow Start, A Strong Finish

Williams didn’t score in the first quarter. Then she came alive, pouring in 16 points in the second. That kind of turnaround takes something. Speaking in an on-court interview, she credited the energy in the building. “Once we all started having fun and the excitement got out, we started to kind of find our way,” she said.

The shots wouldn’t fall, and Williams acknowledged the frustration. “There was a lid on that basket tonight, but that’s why we rely on our defence.” She said defense keeps the team in games when shots aren’t dropping.

Defense as the Foundation

From the start, Golden State has built its identity around defense. That season, the team allowed 335 fewer points than any other WNBA team, a gap that shows how much the Valkyries invested in stopping opponents. Williams finished runner-up to Reese in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and she made the case plainly after the game. “It came down to getting stops and that’s been our bread-and-butter all year,” she said. “That’s why we harp on it so much, because we’ve built such great defensive habits.”

Atlanta’s offense struggled in the fourth quarter, too. Gray, the Dream’s leading scorer, returned after a two-game absence caused by a hand injury and finished with 19 points. But she went scoreless in the final period. Atlanta made just two of 19 field-goal attempts in the quarter and managed only eight points.

Reese Takes Responsibility

Reese finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, scoring all 14 in the first half. Rhyne Howard added 12 for Atlanta. Reese didn’t offer excuses. “I don’t think they really did anything,” she said. “Maybe that was just on me; I wasn’t aggressive enough with the ball and trying to get the ball and get to my spot. I’m definitely going to do a better job of that next game.”

The stakes are high for both teams, and each is chasing its first WNBA title. Atlanta has lost in three previous Finals appearances, most recently in 2013, a gap of 13 years. Golden State, in only its second season, is competing for the championship after becoming the first WNBA expansion franchise to reach the playoffs in its inaugural year. The Valkyries are scheduled to host Game 2 on Monday.

Why This Matters:

One game doesn’t decide a championship, but it sets the tone. For Golden State, a young franchise built around a defensive commitment, the win shows what that approach can do when the offense stalls. Williams’s performance highlights the value of depth in a league where a team’s fortunes can ride on one player’s shoulders during a bad shooting night. For Atlanta, the fourth-quarter collapse raises questions about how the team responds when its leading scorer goes cold and its offense stalls. Both teams are fighting for a title that has eluded them, and the outcome will shape how fans, players, and the league itself view the growth of women’s professional basketball. The series now shifts to San Francisco, where the Valkyries will look to build on their 1-0 advantage.