Gabby Williams scores 26 as Valkyries win WNBA Finals opener

Gabby Williams scored 26 points as the Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-64 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday, giving the franchise its first Finals win, the WNBA and Yahoo Sports reported.

The WNBA Finals were the top trending search in Canada on Saturday, with more than 500,000 searches, according to Google Trends. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Williams scored 16 of her points in the second quarter, and no other Valkyries player reached double figures as Golden State shot 32.1 per cent from the field and went seven for 33 from three-point range, the league’s recap said. She sealed the win with two free throws with four seconds left after being banged up late in the game. The WNBA said Jordin Canada bumped awkwardly into Williams’ knee on a box out, and Williams was being treated by an athletic trainer on the bench in the closing moments.

“We always knew we were going to find a way somehow,” Williams said on the court after the game, according to the WNBA.

Atlanta went 2 for 18 from the field in the fourth quarter, Yahoo Sports reported. Allisha Gray returned from a finger injury on her shooting hand to lead the Dream with 19 points but did not score in the fourth. Angel Reese added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Canada had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds.

The Valkyries finished with 10 blocks, five from Kiah Stokes, and seven steals, and scored 17 points off 12 Atlanta turnovers, according to Yahoo. Golden State guard Tiffany Hayes hit her face on the floor while trying for a steal with 2:38 left and walked off to the locker room on her own, the WNBA said. There was no immediate update on either Hayes or Williams.

The loss ended Atlanta’s 10-game winning streak, and the Dream have still never won a Finals game after being swept in three previous trips, the most recent in 2013, Yahoo reported. “We were right there, right there,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. Either team would win its first championship.

The Finals cap the first WNBA season with a Canadian franchise, the expansion Toronto Tempo. Our earlier coverage looked at what to watch from the Tempo after the World Cup break and the club’s trade for forward Aneesah Morrow.

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Sources: WNBA.com; Yahoo Sports; Google Trends Canada.