Reporting from CHASE CENTER
Gabby Williams joked she couldn’t lose on Halloween.
So she put her team — and the Bay Area — on her back in the Valkyries’ 68-63 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday night, clinching the franchise’s first WNBA title.
Williams scored 30 points in Game 7, 28 of them in the second half. She also finished with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. But what stood out was four blocks, a career high in any game.
An unreal performance with the stakes at their highest. She was named 2026 WNBA Finals MVP on the court moments after the Valkyries lifted the championship trophy.
In the seven-game series, Williams averaged 19.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said Williams’ patience through a 1-of-4 first half was the whole point:
“Gabby is our closer. Like, she stayed patient, she stayed with it. Closing with 30, I mean, that’s f—ing incredible. That is incredible.”
Throughout the playoffs, Golden State leaned on Williams to be the answer, time and time again. And she delivered, averaging 21 points on 38 percent shooting across 13 postseason games.
Williams grew up in Sparks, Nevada, outside Reno, but her Bay Area ties run deep: relatives in the East Bay, AAU basketball here as a kid.
She lives in Oakland now, and as the season marched on she said the Valkyries signs she passed on her drives to Chase Center fueled her. Winning a championship in this market made it more special. She looked at these playoffs as the time to give it everything:
“This is the moment. This is my time to give my everything for this community. Every time, I’m just thinking, this is the community I want to play for.”
She did more than that. She delivered a championship for the Bay Area, and etched her name in the history books as Finals MVP of the Valkyries’ first-ever title.
