SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Valkyries took Game 1 of the 2026 WNBA Finals on Saturday night, grinding out a 68-64 win over the Atlanta Dream in front of a deafening Chase Center crowd to open the best-of-seven series. Gabby Williams scored 26 points and knocked down four free throws in the final 79 seconds, delivering the first Finals victory in the franchise’s two-year history.
Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 19 points and Angel Reese posted a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, but the Dream missed from deep three times in the final 70 seconds as Golden State closed the game on a 7-0 run. Game 2 is Monday night, back at Chase Center.
Valkyries vs. Dream: how Game 1 was won
Atlanta punched first. Reese scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the opening quarter, a plus-13 in eight minutes, and the Dream led 22-14 after one. Williams, scoreless and 0-for-4 in the first, answered with 16 points in the second quarter alone, including the final seven of a 10-0 run that put Golden State ahead. According to the team’s official recap, her 16-point quarter is tied for the third-most in a quarter in WNBA Finals history, behind only Jackie Young (21) and Angel McCoughtry (19).
Atlanta steadied itself after halftime and the game tightened into a fourth-quarter fistfight. Rhyne Howard missed a three with 1:09 left. Naz Hillmon missed from deep. Allisha Gray’s potential go-ahead three with nine seconds to go fell short. Williams, facing pressure all night, went to the line and finished it: two free throws with 1:18 remaining to put Golden State in front, two more with 4.1 seconds left to seal it, per the Associated Press.
The Valkyries won despite shooting 32.1 percent and going 7-of-33 from three-point range. Williams was their only scorer in double figures.
Defense told the story
Golden State held Gray to 5-of-19 shooting and Howard to 3-of-14. Reese, so dominant early, did not make a field goal after the first quarter, going 0-for-5 the rest of the way. Kiah Stokes tied a playoff career high with four blocks, Kaila Charles set a playoff career high with 10 rebounds, and the Valkyries won the glass 41-35, including a 12-7 edge on offensive boards, according to the team recap.
The number that jumps off the page: 64. Atlanta ranked third in the league in scoring at 91.3 points per game this season, per the WNBA’s Finals preview, and Golden State’s top-ranked defense dragged the Dream 27 points below that mark in the biggest game of their season.
WNBA Finals 2026 schedule and where to watch
Every remaining game streams on Peacock. Times below are listed in ET and PT:
Game 1: Valkyries 68, Dream 64 (Golden State leads 1-0)
Game 2: Monday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, USA Network, Peacock and CNBC (Chase Center, San Francisco)
Game 3: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, USA, Peacock and CNBC (State Farm Arena, Atlanta)
Game 4: Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT, NBC and Peacock (State Farm Arena, Atlanta)
Game 5 (if necessary): Monday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, USA, Peacock and CNBC (Chase Center)
Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, USA, Peacock and CNBC (Atlanta, venue TBD)
Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, USA, Peacock and CNBC (Chase Center)
How both teams got here
The Valkyries’ rise has been remarkably fast. In 2025 they became the first expansion team ever to reach the WNBA Playoffs. In Year 2 they went 32-12, earned the No. 2 seed and rode the league’s top-ranked defense through a first-round comeback over Dallas, then swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, a team they had beaten just once in seven all-time meetings entering the series. Coach Natalie Nakase won her first playoff matchup against her former boss, Becky Hammon, per the WNBA’s Finals preview.
The Dream took the long road back. Atlanta posted a franchise-best 30-14 record, swept Washington in the first round and then swept the 2025 champion New York Liberty to reach its first Finals since 2013. Jordin Canada carried the offense in the semifinals with Gray limited, averaging 22.3 points on 62.2 percent shooting.
Golden State won all three regular-season meetings, played across 11 days in June and July, holding the Dream to 74.7 points per game. Saturday was their first meeting in more than three months, and the first since Atlanta added two-time champion DeWanna Bonner in late August.
What this means for readers and fans
A first-time WNBA champion is now guaranteed. Neither franchise has ever won a title, and this is only the eighth Finals in league history between two championship-less teams, according to the WNBA. Reese, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, is chasing her first ring in her first Finals.
For Atlanta, Game 2 on Monday is close to must-win: dropping both games in San Francisco would mean needing to win four of five with the middle two at home. Expect the Dream to get Reese involved early again after she faded following her hot start, and for Canada to keep attacking with Gray working back to full strength.
For Golden State, the formula travels. If Williams keeps scoring in bursts and the defense keeps turning elite offenses ordinary, the Valkyries could close this at home. The “Ballhalla” crowd, which Nakase had publicly asked to be hostile, delivered exactly that on Saturday, per the Associated Press.
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