ESPNMultiple AuthorsOct 31, 2026, 10:29 PM ETOpen Extended ReactionsSAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Valkyries are the 2026 WNBA champions!In just their second season, the Valkyries are the last team standing after beating the Atlanta Dream 66-61 in a winner-take-all Game 7 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday at Chase Center.Gabby Williams turned the game in Golden State’s favor, scoring 13 points in a row — including three consecutive 3-pointers — for the Valkyries in the third quarter. The Valkyries were trailing 37-32 when Williams heated up. She made just one field goal in the first half but finished with 30 points on 10-for-23 shooting, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.Williams tied Penny Taylor’s 2007 record for most points in a winner-take-all WNBA Finals game.It was the first time this series that the team that was ahead at halftime did not win the game.ESPN was courtside for all of the Game 7 action, providing analysis and highlights.Jump to: Postgame analysis | Relive the action(2) Golden State Valkyries 68, (4) Atlanta Dream 63How the Valkyries won the WNBA championship: Two things that were true all season for Golden State came through for the Valkyries in Game 7: They played excellent defense, and Gabby Williams was a superstar.When they write stories about all-time Bay Area performances, there will be a chapter about Williams, who came to Golden State as a free agent this season and made the second-year franchise a champion. She would be the first to point to her teammates for all they did, but Williams was the ultimate difference-maker in this series.In a game in which she struggled in the first half, Williams seemed to duck into a phone booth in the third quarter and turn into Superwoman.
She finished with 30 points and also made several strong defensive plays, including four blocks.Which leads us to that defense we’ve been talking about all season with Golden State. The Valkyries were the WNBA’s best defensive team in 2026, and that carried through in the playoffs. It’s how they beat Dallas in the first round, defending champion Las Vegas in the semifinals and Atlanta in the Finals.In every game the Valkyries won in this series, they held the Dream below 70 points. Considering this is a team that averaged 91.3 points in the regular season — third best in the WNBA — what Golden State was able to do to the Dream in the Valkyries’ four Finals wins was a master class.
And it was a team-led effort, the kind of defense that coaches across the country should show to their teams.What was the turning point or pivotal moment? Williams, who didn’t score her first basket until late in the second quarter, suddenly turned things midway through the third quarter, hitting three consecutive 3-point shots and scoring 13 points in a row for the Valkyries. That energized a crowd that was waiting to explode and gave Golden State the lead.It was an amazing thing to watch: The player who has been the Valkyries’ leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs took over and refused to be stopped.Williams was devastated by France’s loss to the United States in the FIBA World Cup gold medal game in September. But with another chance to win a championship, this time in the WNBA Finals, Williams was the one doing the devastating stuff to the Dream.
They will have nightmares about her second-half shotmaking.Besides the Finals MVP, who else was a pivotal player? Where to start? Game 7 will always be known as the Gabby Williams game, but there was so much else to appreciate from Golden State’s effort. Let’s look at point guard Veronica Burton, who finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
She didn’t shoot well — 3-of-13 — but she had just two turnovers. And she calmly stepped to the line with 5.1 seconds left to make the clinching free throws that won the title.Center Kiah Stokes, who won three championships with Las Vegas, has her fourth in her first year with the Valkyries. She was the defensive stalwart inside, the player the rest of the defense always counted on. She had 13 rebounds and two blocks in Game 7 and finished with 31 blocks in the playoffs.Another former UConn player, Tiffany Hayes, got the first title of her long WNBA career, and she did her part in Game 7, too, scoring 11 points.
Finally, Kaila Charles, who moved into the starting lineup during the Finals, had four points and seven rebounds, and constant energy on defense.What will be your lasting memory from Game 7? The thing that really will stick is what an event it was, and that’s thanks to the growth of the league’s popularity as a whole and the amazing fanbase that developed in just two years for the Valkyries. The fans have made this one of the great venues for women’s sports in the world, and the franchise is only getting started. Halloween in the Bay Area had a purple tint for the Valkyries, and that was fun to see. — Michael Voepel
