Gabby Williams Powers Valkyries to Game 1 Win in WNBA Finals

The Golden State Valkyries, a basketball club from the San Francisco Bay Area, beat the Atlanta Dream 68-64 on Saturday, October 17, at home in the opening game of the WNBA Finals, the championship series of the US women's professional basketball league. The series is played to four wins, and the Valkyries lead 1-0. The next game is due in two days.

The California club reached the Finals 17 months after playing its first official game. At Chase Center, the Valkyries sold out their 50th consecutive home game, with 18,064 spectators attending for the 49th time.

How the game unfolded

The contest swung back and forth. Atlanta held the edge in the first and third quarters, but the hosts recovered both times. Golden State led 42-39 at halftime. The quarter scores were 14-22, 28-17, 9-17 and 17-8 in the hosts' favor.

Gabby Williams, the Valkyries' leader, scored 26 points, six of them in the closing stretch, and drew several fouls from opponents. She also grabbed four rebounds and made two assists.

Kiah Stokes added nine points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Cecilia Zandalasini had eight points, while Juste Jocyte remained on the bench.

For the Dream, Angel Reese scored 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and Rhyne Howard added 12 points and seven rebounds. Both world champions picked up their fifth fouls late in the game.

Schedule ahead

The next games are set for October 20 and 22, and on October 24 the Dream host the Valkyries. If needed, the series continues on October 27, October 29 and November 1. From October 26 to November 1, the time difference between Latvia and the US East Coast will be six hours.