Golden State Valkyries Win WNBA Title in Game 7 as Gabby Williams Scores 30

The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions in only their second season. Gabby Williams scored 30 points, 28 of them after halftime, as the Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday night, Oct. 31, at Chase Center in San Francisco, the first Game 7 in Finals history.

Williams was named Finals MVP. The win completed a comeback from a 2-1 series deficit and made Golden State the fastest expansion team in major North American pro sports since at least 1967 to win a championship.

How Golden State won Game 7

Atlanta led 30-24 at halftime after holding the Valkyries to 10 points in the second quarter. Williams then took over. She scored her team’s final 11 points of the third quarter as Golden State outscored the Dream 21-14 to take a narrow lead into the fourth, according to the Associated Press and ESPN.

The game stayed tight to the end. With about two minutes left, Williams hit a go-ahead 3-pointer, and Veronica Burton made two late free throws to seal it. Kiah Stokes grabbed 13 rebounds for the Valkyries. Coach Natalie Nakase summed it up after the game: “Gabby is our closer. She stayed patient, she stayed with it,” she said, adding, “Closing with 30, that is incredible!”

Williams joined Penny Taylor, who did it for Phoenix in 2007, as the only players in WNBA history to score 30 or more points in a winner-take-all Finals game, the AP reported. The Guardian reported that her 28 second-half points were the highest-scoring half in WNBA playoff history.

For Atlanta, Jordin Canada scored 18 points, Allisha Gray added 16 and Angel Reese had eight points and 12 rebounds. The Dream lost in the Finals for the fourth time in franchise history.

The series: from 2-1 down to champions

The best-of-seven series swung back and forth. Golden State won Game 1, then Atlanta won the next two, including a 97-71 rout in Game 3. Nakase then moved Kaila Charles and Tiffany Hayes into the starting lineup and brought Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini off the bench, The Guardian reported. The Valkyries won the next two games, holding Atlanta to 62 and 55 points, before the Dream forced Game 7 with an 80-69 win on Oct. 29. The Finals moved to a best-of-seven format in 2025.

By The Boston Report’s count, the Valkyries scored 472 points in the series to Atlanta’s 500. They lost the three Atlanta wins by a combined 51 points and won their four games by a combined 23: Atlanta won big, while Golden State won close games.

By the numbers: the fastest expansion title

Golden State played its first season in 2025. According to Sporting News, the previous record holder among major North American leagues since 1967 was the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks, who won the NBA title in their third season. The Arizona Diamondbacks needed four seasons, and the Seattle Storm and Florida Marlins needed five. The Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in their sixth season.

The Guardian counted 534 days from the franchise’s first game to the title and reported that Game 7 was the team’s 53rd sellout in 53 home games at the 18,064-seat Chase Center. The team entered the season as a 45-1 preseason long shot, according to that report. It also cited Sportico in reporting that the Valkyries recently became the first women’s professional sports team to top $100 million in annual revenue.

A roster built from overlooked players

Much of the championship roster came from other teams’ castoffs. Burton, the starting point guard, had been waived by the Dallas Wings two years earlier. The Guardian reported that she went home to Massachusetts and worked out at the West Suburban YMCA in Newton with her high school coach while waiting for another chance. With Golden State, she was named the league’s most improved player. Charles had been cut five times in five seasons before signing a seven-day hardship contract. Thornton went undrafted and became a first-time All-Star at 32. Hayes, a former Sixth Woman of the Year, had played more WNBA games without a title than anyone in history, The Guardian reported.

Williams credited her coach after the game. “Nat told me to stay patient. I trust her with my life,” she said. Owner Joe Lacob had told Nakase during her interview that the team had to win a title within five years, according to The Guardian. She did it in two.

For more on recent championships, see our report on the Brewers’ first World Series parade, and for basketball closer to home, the Celtics’ NBA Cup win over the Bulls.

Sources

• AP News: Gabby Williams scores 30 points as Valkyries win first WNBA championship
• ESPN: Valkyries 68, Dream 63 (Oct. 31, 2026) game recap
• WNBA.com: 2026 WNBA Finals Game 7 recap blog
• Anadolu Agency: Morning briefing, Nov. 1, 2026 (WNBA Finals Game 7 details)
• Sporting News: Fastest expansion teams to win a championship
• The Guardian: How Natalie Nakase led the Valkyries to WNBA glory (Nov. 1, 2026)