The Golden State Valkyries have won the WNBA Championship in only their second season in existence, beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in a thrilling Game 7 of the Finals on Saturday night.
At the end of a season mired in controversy, it was heartbreak for Angel Reese and her Atlanta teammates as Gabby Williams stole the show for Golden State.
The game took place at a raucous Chase Center in San Francisco, with NBA icon Draymond Green watching on from courtside, and the likes of Barack Obama tuning in from home.
On a wild Halloween night, Williams scored her team’s final 11 points of the third quarter and dazzled through the fourth on the way to 30 points, a performance that sealed her the Finals MVP trophy.
For their losing rivals, Jordin Canada scored 18 points, Allisha Gray 16 and Angel Reese eight points and 12 rebounds, the Dream denied another championship in the franchise’s fourth try.
Gray made two free throws with 11 seconds left then Atlanta forced a jump ball – Gray against Williams – and Veronica Burton corralled it and converted two free throws with 5.1 seconds to go.
When the final buzzer sounded, the violet-clad sellout crowd at Chase Center went into a frenzy as players sprinted onto the floor to hug and celebrate as confetti fell from the rafters.
Posting on X after the buzzer, president Obama wrote: ‘Congrats to the new WNBA champs, the @Valkyries! Ballhalla was rocking all season, and this team was fun to watch. Enjoy the celebration.’
In the trophy ceremony postgame, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was loudly booed by the entire crowd, capping off what will likely go down in history as the most controversial season in the league’s history.
The seven games of the Finals were clouded by fan fury after both teams opted to leave the field for the pregame national anthems, with the players labeled as unpatriotic by stunned fans watching from home.
The Finals series was also hampered by scheduling chaos, with Game 6 forced to be played at lunchtime on Thursday to avoid it having to be played in a tiny arena instead.
More widely, though, the season has been marred by multiple controversies, most notably the transgender eligibility debate.
