Gabby Williams poured in 28 of her 30 points after halftime on Saturday night, powering the Golden State Valkyries to a 68-63 win over the Atlanta Dream at San Francisco’s Chase Center in the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history.
The Golden State Valkyries captured their first championship in front of a sellout crowd of 18,064, taking the title in just their second season of existence. That two-year climb makes Golden State the fastest expansion franchise in North American major professional sports history to win a championship, beating owner Joe Lacob’s 2023 pledge by three years.
Williams was named 2026 WNBA Finals MVP after finishing Game 7 with 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting (4-of-8 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line), three rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a career-high four blocks in 38 minutes. According to CBS Sports, her 28 points after intermission set an all-time WNBA playoff record for points in a single half, and her 30 total points tied the league record for the most in a winner-take-all Finals game.
How Gabby Williams took over in the second half
Williams shot 1-of-4 for two points in the first half as Golden State saw an early 8-0 lead turn into a six-point halftime deficit. Ninety minutes before tip-off, she had kept her pregame remarks brief: “I’m feeling great, I’m feeling excited. I’m ready to have some fun tonight,” Williams said.
With the Valkyries stuck on 34 points and trailing by six midway through the third quarter, Williams sparked the rally. She knocked down a step-back 3-pointer over Atlanta’s DeWanna Bonner, hit another step-back triple over Angel Reese on the next possession, and followed with an open corner 3-pointer and a baseline turnaround jumper to push Golden State back in front. Her 15 third-quarter points sent the Valkyries into the fourth holding a 45-44 edge, The Guardian reported.
Late in the fourth quarter, Williams scored nine straight points for Golden State. With two seconds left on the shot clock and 2:14 remaining in regulation, she buried a 31-foot 3-pointer to put the Valkyries up 60-57 for good.
Asked afterward what changed at the break, Williams credited head coach Natalie Nakase. “Nat told me to stay patient,” Williams said. “I trust her with my life. I stayed patient. Just trusted her. She said, ‘Stay patient, stay patient, the game’s gonna open up for you.’ It did.”
Teammates and coaches praised the second-half surge. “I just want to say I’m super impressed by Gabby,” Valkyries center Kiah Stokes said at the postgame podium after handing Williams a bottle of wine. Point guard Veronica Burton said once Williams got rolling, the team followed her lead, while Nakase called her forward Golden State’s closer.
Record Finals run and free-agency pursuit
Williams dominated throughout the postseason, averaging 21.0 points across 13 playoff games. Over the seven-game Finals (in which Golden State took Games 1 (68-64), 4 (67-62), and 5 (64-55), while Atlanta won Games 2 (79-65), 3 (97-71), and 6 (80-69)), she set WNBA Finals series records with 137 total points (19.6 per game) and 18 steals. During the regular season, she paced the Valkyries with a career-high 14.4 points per game, earned her second All-Star nod, made the All-Defensive First Team, and finished second to Reese for Defensive Player of the Year.
Golden State first targeted Williams ahead of its 2025 inaugural season, but the Seattle Storm used their core player designation, a league tag that gives a team exclusive negotiating rights in exchange for a one-year maximum salary offer, to keep her. Drafted fourth overall out of UConn by the Chicago Sky in 2018, Williams had started 36 of 89 games in Chicago before being suspended and traded over her French national team obligations, later becoming a 2025 All-Star in Seattle.
When Williams reached unrestricted free agency last offseason, Lacob joined the pitch personally after having promised in 2023: “I’m telling you right now, we will win a WNBA championship in the first five years of this franchise.”
“She was in Turkey when I talked to her. It was an almost hour-long conversation. I knew when it was over that it was good. I just felt it and I think she felt it too. I can’t explain it. We just clicked on it,” Lacob said on the court after lifting the trophy.
Reflecting on her career path, Williams pointed to the locker room environment in San Francisco. “I showed up new. The team already had a culture and relationships established, but I walked into a group full of love,” she said, adding, “I would tell [little] Gabby, how important, how far love can go,” after years of wondering what came next.
The Valkyries will celebrate the championship with a parade down San Francisco’s Embarcadero on Wednesday, November 4, with the team scheduled to release full route and timing details on Sunday morning.