The Golden State Valkyries made history on Saturday night, clinching the franchise’s first WNBA championship — a Valkyries WNBA title sealed with a 68-63 Game 7 win over the Atlanta Dream at Chase Center in San Francisco.
It was the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, and it delivered a fitting finale to the longest title matchup the league has ever staged. The Valkyries won the series four games to three, and they did it in just their second year of existence, becoming the fastest expansion team among the major North American sports leagues to win a title.
The victory came before a sellout crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center, where the violet-clad home crowd, known as “Ballhalla,” cheered the home side to a crown on Halloween night.
Gabby Williams delivers a Finals performance for the ages
Gabby Williams was named Finals MVP after a performance that will live in league history. She finished with 30 points, 28 of them in the second half, a record for most points in a half in a WNBA Finals game, and the most points in any half of a postseason game in league history.
Williams had scored only two points in the first half, with Atlanta leading 30-24 at the break. The team that led at halftime had won every game in the series so far, but Williams seized command after the interval. She singlehandedly outscored the Dream 15-14 in the third quarter, scoring 15 straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters, and became the first player in WNBA history to score 15 consecutive points in a Finals game.
Her 30 points were tied for the most in a winner-take-all Finals game. She shot 10 of 23 from the field, made four of her eight three-point attempts, went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line, and added four blocked shots, playing 38 of the game’s 40 minutes.
With 2 minutes and 18 seconds to go and the game tied at 57, Williams answered a Rhyne Howard layup with a clutch three-pointer to put Golden State ahead to stay. Kiah Stokes then converted a Williams miss into a key basket with 53 seconds left for a 64-57 lead, and free throws by Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton down the stretch sealed the victory. Burton was fouled with 5.1 seconds remaining and produced the final points of the game.
A team built from overlooked players
The Valkyries’ title run defied the expectations that followed them into the league. Golden State joined the WNBA in 2025 as an expansion franchise, built largely from players left unprotected in the expansion draft, a handful of international imports, and one key free-agent signing.
For their first two seasons, the Valkyries heard that they did not have any stars, that as an expansion club mostly made up of other teams’ dispensable players they lacked anyone who could step up and hit big shots when it mattered most. On Saturday, Williams quieted anyone who believed that.
The Valkyries are also the first team in the league’s 30-year history to win a title without an All-WNBA player on the roster, and the third team across the NBA, BAA, and WNBA to win the Finals within their first two seasons as a franchise, according to Elias Sports Bureau figures cited in coverage.
Coach Natalie Nakase, who pieced the roster together into the league’s second-best regular-season record, praised her closer after the game. “She is our closer. She stayed patient, she stayed with it,” Nakase said of Williams, who finished the game with 30 points. Owner Joe Lacob had guaranteed a championship within the franchise’s first five years when the Bay Area was granted an expansion team three years ago. The Valkyries delivered it in two.
Atlanta denied for a fourth time
For the Dream, the defeat was a familiar heartbreak. Atlanta lost the Finals for the fourth time in the franchise’s 18-year history, having been swept in its first three trips in 2010, 2011, and 2013. The Dream were held under 65 points in each of their four Finals losses in this series.
Jordin Canada scored 18 points for Atlanta, Allisha Gray added 16, and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds. DeWanna Bonner became the first player in WNBA history to reach 600 career postseason defensive rebounds during the series.
Veronica Burton finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists for Golden State, Tiffany Hayes scored 11, and Kiah Stokes had eight points and 13 rebounds to collect her fourth WNBA title. Stokes also set a record for most points (137) and most steals (18) in a WNBA Finals series, according to series coverage.
What the Valkyries WNBA title means for the league
The first Game 7 in Finals history, played before a sellout crowd on Halloween night, was a showcase moment for a league celebrating its 30th season. The series went the full distance, produced record individual performances, and ended with a second-year expansion team lifting the trophy.
From midcourt, with the MVP trophy in her arms, Williams dedicated the win to the overlooked. “This is for all the people out there who are underrated, misunderstood. This is for all y’all,” she told the home fans and a national television audience.
As confetti fell at Chase Center and the players celebrated in the locker room, the Valkyries had done more than win a championship. They had rewritten what an expansion team can be, and given the WNBA a Finals story that will be told for years.
Sources: ESPN, CNN, USA Today, and Associated Press coverage of Game 7 of the 2026 WNBA Finals, October 31, 2026.