Gabby Williams carries Valkyries to historic WNBA championship with massive Game 7

Christian Babcock, The Mercury News on Oct 31, 2026

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SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions, and they have Gabby Williams to thank.

Williams dragged the Valkyries over the finish line in their 68-63 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 7, shaking off a tough first half to score 15 points in the third quarter and 13 in the fourth to take over offensively and help Golden State capture the title.

Williams was just about the only consistent offense for the Valkyries in a game that made even their limited standards in this series look prolific. Nonetheless, it was one they’ll never forget.

Williams’ historic 30-point performance made sure of that.

The second-year WNBA franchise is the first expansion team to win a title within its first two seasons in the league, and the Halloween party at Ballhalla, which raged all game long, will surely carry over to the parade through downtown San Francisco next week.

Williams scored only two points in the first half, but it didn’t matter. Her 31-foot late-clock 3-pointer gave the Valkyries a 3-point lead with 2:19 to play, continuing a scorching stretch of makes from distance, including three in quick succession late in the third quarter.

As GAB-BY and M-V-P chants rained down, her two free throws with 1:40 left stretched the lead to five. Kiah Stokes’ put-back with 53.8 left made it 64-57.

The roars intensified as Atlanta coach Karl Smesko called a timeout. Allisha Gray, on Atlanta’s third opportunity of the ensuing possession, nailed a corner 3-pointer to cut the Dream’s deficit to four with 34.2 left.

Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton made clutch free throws late to help seal the win, even as things got shaky in the final seconds with a late turnover, a foul and a jump ball.

The winning push began when Williams hit Stokes with a pass that led to a layup midway through the third quarter, cutting the Dream’s lead to 37-30. They finished the quarter on a 17-7 run to lead entering the fourth by a single point, as Williams scored 13 along the way.

Golden State came out after tipoff with a defensive masterclass, holding Atlanta scoreless through the first five minutes and taking an early 8-0 lead. But the Valkyries’ offense was limited and Atlanta cut the deficit to 14-12 by the end of the quarter.

The trend was exacerbated in the second quarter. Golden State didn’t make its first 3-pointer until its 11th attempt, Kayla Thornton’s triple with 3:00 left.

Williams didn’t get on the scoresheet until converting a driving layup with 1:21 left in the half.

Golden State’s defense was the only thing that kept it within shouting distance at the break, as Atlanta took a 30-24 lead into the halftime locker room.

The Valkyries’ struggle to score mirrored the rest of the series. Their series high was 71 in a blowout Game 3 loss that was effectively over long before the final horn.

It was a back-and-forth Finals: The Valkyries won the first game of the championship series before Atlanta stormed back to dominate Games 2 and 3. Golden State revived its chances with a gutsy road win in Game 4 and another close victory back at home in Game 5.

Atlanta came out firing from 3-point territory in Game 6 to even the series, using a huge opening push to force Saturday’s decisive Game 7.

Entering Saturday, the Valkyries were 6-1 in the playoffs at Chase Center after going 17-5 at Ballhalla in the regular season, the best home record in the league.

To advance to the Finals, the No. 2-seeded Valkyries mounted a dramatic comeback in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Dallas Wings, then swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces in three games in the semifinals.

Golden State made history last season as the first expansion team to make the WNBA playoffs, but was swept in the first round by Minnesota. The Valkyries set a new benchmark in their second season simply by reaching the Finals, three years ahead of the championship mandate owner Joe Lacob made when the team’s arrival was announced.

Now they’ve reached that goal, three years ahead of schedule.