In front of a sold-out sea of purple at Chase Center, the Golden State Valkyries shook off an early deficit and shooting struggles to beat the Atlanta Dream 68-64 and take Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
The fortress they call Ballhalla was rocking for a game that featured seven lead changes and was tied six times. Valkyries star Gabby Williams led all scorers with 26 points on 8-of-22 shooting. She hit two clutch free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining to ice the game. No other Golden State player scored in double digits.
For Atlanta, it was their first loss of the 2026 playoffs, but one that was perhaps expected at some point in a series set up to be a home court advantage showdown.
The Valkyries led the league with 17 home wins during the regular season and swept the regular-season series against the Dream, two of those three wins coming at Chase Center.
Allisha Gray led the Dream with 19 points on 5-of-19 shooting but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. Gray made her return to action after missing Games 2 and 3 of the Semifinals with a hand injury suffered in Game 1 vs. the New York Liberty.
Angel Reese added 14 points and 12 rebounds but did not make a field goal in the second half. Rhyne Howard struggled from the floor, managing 12 points and just three made field goals.
Amid a flurry of stars showing up in the box score, it was a defensive showdown between two of the WNBA’s best that didn’t disappoint. Atlanta entered the series averaging a league-leading 92.6 points per game in the 2026 playoffs while Golden State averaged 87.
Both teams shot just 32% from the field in Game 1.
The Valkyries forced 12 Atlanta turnovers and scored 17 points off of them. Golden State center Kiah Stokes recorded four blocks in the first half to add to the team’s ten total.
Williams, who entered the Finals averaging 22.7 points per game in the playoffs, was stifled early by Dream defenders and missed her first four field goal attempts before draining a three with 8:39 to go in the second quarter.
Williams caught fire after that, and Atlanta scrambled to find an answer. Her three-pointer with 1:52 left in the half saw the crowd at Chase Center erupt and give Golden State a 40-37 lead -- its first since it was 14-13 in the first quarter.
Behind Williams’ 16 second-quarter points, the Valkyries ended the half on a 10-2 run to fully soak up the momentum.
“I was just excited to be here,” Williams told WNBA on NBC’s Ashley ShahAhmadi after the game of her second-quarter heater. “Once we all started having fun and the excitement got out, we started to find our way.”
Golden State struggled to hold onto that swing in the third quarter as the Dream outscored the hosts 17-9, but Atlanta shot just 2-for-14 in the fourth. Gray was 0-of-6, Howard 0-of-3 and Reese missed her only field goal attempt in the final period.
The visitors had the ball with 23.8 seconds remaining and down two points, but Golden State’s suffocating defense forced nearly 16 seconds to bleed off the clock before Gray missed a three with 7.9 seconds to go.
“We always know we’re going to find a way somehow,” Williams told ShahAhmadi. “There was a lid on that basket tonight, but that’s why we rely on our defense.”
The WNBA Finals continue on Monday, with Game 2 set to tip off at 8pm ET on USA Network and Peacock.
