Valkyries stifle Dream, stand one win from first WNBA crown

Photos by Haley Abarca/SFBay

Just one more.

The Golden State Valkyries are a single victory from a WNBA championship after smothering the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the Finals on Monday night at Chase Center. The expansion franchise that promised fans a title within five years is now one win from delivering it in two.

Golden State held Atlanta to 29.2 percent shooting, 17 turnovers and its lowest point total of the season. The Valkyries lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and can close it out Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET in Atlanta — a 9:30 a.m. tip for the Bay Area.

The Dream have scored 64, 62 and 55 points in their three losses to Golden State, and 79 and 97 in their two wins. Their four lowest totals of the entire season — 55, 62, 64 and a 66 back in June — have all come against the Valkyries. Nothing about the Valkyries formula is a secret. Atlanta simply has not solved it.

Monday added a new wrinkle: Kiah Stokes, the defensive anchor who entered the night with a Finals-record 14 blocks through four games, went 3-of-4 from 3-point range on her way to 13 points. She also blocked three more shots, grabbed eight rebounds and held Angel Reese to 2-of-8 shooting and seven points.

Reese had averaged 25.5 points in Atlanta’s two wins but has now scored 14, eight and seven in three losses. She snared 15 rebounds Monday but also committed three offensive fouls, two of them in a three-minute stretch of the fourth quarter as Golden State pulled away.

The Valkyries led 25-22 at the break on 10-of-33 shooting, while Atlanta shot 8-of-34. The teams combined for a dismal 5-of-28 from 3-point range.

Atlanta’s only lead of the night came on Rhyne Howard’s 26-foot 3-pointer with 21.5 seconds left in the first quarter, making it 14-13. Veronica Burton erased it 20 seconds into the second quarter with a turnaround jumper, then stretched it with a 24-footer after a Kaila Charles steal. Golden State never trailed again.

The game turned in the first three minutes of the third quarter. Stokes buried a corner 3 off a Tiffany Hayes feed, then Hayes drove for a layup and a 32-24 lead, and Dream coach Karl Smesko called timeout with 7:27 left. Fifty seconds later he lost another one, challenging an offensive foul on Allisha Gray that replay upheld.

Howard kept Atlanta within reach almost single-handedly. Her step-back 3 at 3:04 cut the deficit to 38-36, the closest the Dream would get in the second half. Stokes answered 19 seconds later from 26 feet. Burton closed the quarter with a driving floater with 1.7 seconds left for a 46-40 lead.

Stokes’ third 3-pointer, off a feed from Cecilia Zandalasini, made it 52-42 with just over seven minutes left, and Golden State was never threatened. Zandalasini scored 12 off the bench. Hayes scored six of the Valkyries’ final 12 points, including four free throws in the last 2:17, and the lead reached 16 at 62-46 with 1:46 to play. Three late Dream 3-pointers — two by Jordin Canada, one by Howard — dressed up the final margin.

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase lost a challenge of her own, on a Burton shooting foul with 4:07 left. The call stood and Golden State was charged a timeout. Hayes scored on the next possession.

Gabby Williams shot 3-of-14 to score just nine, but added six rebounds, three steals and zero turnovers. Golden State blocked nine shots to Atlanta’s three.

Up Next

Game 6 is Thursday at 9:30 a.m. PT at State Farm Arena in Atlanta (USA Network and CNBC; streaming on Peacock). The early tip clears the building for the Hawks’ home game that night. Should the Dream force a Game 7, it would be Saturday at 5 p.m. at Chase Center.

Venue shuffle

Game 6 had been scheduled into Gateway Center Arena in College Park, the Dream’s regular home and the smallest building in the league at roughly 3,500 seats, because the Atlanta Hawks were scheduled to play Thursday night at State Farm Arena. The WNBA announced Monday that Game 6 would move to the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena with an unusual 12:30 p.m. local time tipoff (9:30 a.m. in the Bay Area), with the Hawks pushing their tip to 8 p.m. ET. If the Valkyries win, the trophy presentation will be on a clock to get the floor turned over for the NBA.

Stokes’ ledger

Stokes now has 17 blocks in five Finals games, extending the Finals record she set Saturday. Monday was her fifth game of the series and eighth of the postseason with three or more blocks, both WNBA records.

Expansion mirror

Before Golden State arrived in 2025, the league’s last expansion team was the Dream, who joined in 2008. Atlanta was swept in each of its three previous Finals trips (2010, 2011 and 2013) and had never won a Finals game until this series. It has now won two, and is one loss from watching the expansion team that followed it lift the trophy first.