The Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream on Saturday 68-63 to capture the franchise’s first WNBA title in a Game 7 classic. The Valkyries are now up there with the likes of the Vegas Golden Knights in terms of professional sports franchises to find instant success, as they’ll lift a banner to the rafters in just their second season in the league.
“All we heard last year, ‘We don’t have no stars, we don’t have no talent.’ Yeah, right,” Finals MVP Gabby Williams told reporters. “We’ve got good people. We’ve got winners. We have people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game. … We just build a beautiful culture here.”
Despite the fact that Atlanta featured more “star power” on paper than Golden State, the Valkyries put together one of the most impressive seasons in recent WNBA history, going 32-12 during the regular season, securing the number 2 seed in the process. From there, their roster, which featured no WNBA All-Stars, played true team-first basketball en route to a Game 7 victory that will serve as the blueprint for expansion franchises for years to come.
“I want to focus on people who believed in myself the whole time,” Williams said. “There were a lot of people that believed in us and believed in me as well. It started with us believing in each other, and that’s so special.
“We just kept our circle so tight to shut out the outside noise, shut out whatever the talk about we don’t have this or whatever, and we just focused on the good stuff, focused on the positive. That was a beautiful thing to come into every day and feel that.” ‘
Williams took her game to another level in the second half, single handedly outscoring the Dream 15-14 in the 3rd quarter alone. Her 30 points on the night was tied for the most points scored in a winner take all Finals game, while her 28 second half points are a new WNBA playoff record as well.
For Atlanta, it was a frustrating night offensively, as the team shot a collective 20% from beyond the arc. Rhyne Howard was 0 for 7 on three point attempts, while Angel Reese was held to single digits (8 points) on the night as well.
For Williams and the Valkyries, it will be a whirlwind of a schedule over the next few days. After the champagne has finally stopped flowing, the team will take part in their championship parade on Wednesday November 4th. The route, which was confirmed by the team on Sunday, will begin at the Ferry Building on Mission St, and conclude at King and 2nd St.
Fans can begin lining up along the parade route as of 9am, with the festivities scheduled to kick off at 12pm.
Photo: Missvain. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.