A Two-Year-Old Team Just Won The WNBA Title In The First Game 7 EVER — And Gabby Williams Scored 28 Of Her 30 After Halftime

Stop scrolling, because sports just served a script no screenwriter would dare pitch. The Golden State Valkyries, a franchise that only formed in 2024, are WNBA champions after winning the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history. Yes, really.

The Night In A Nutshell

The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night in front of a sell-out crowd of more than 18,000 at San Francisco's Chase Center, according to BBC Sport. The Dream had levelled the seven-game series on Thursday to force the decider, so nobody was getting an easy ending.

And the hero? Gabby Williams. She finished with 30 points and was named Finals MVP.

The Halftime Glow-Up

Here's where it gets absurd. Per Sky Sports, Williams had just TWO points in the first half, and Golden State trailed by six at the break.

Then she woke up. She dropped 15 in the third quarter alone, flipping the game to a 45-44 Valkyries lead heading into the fourth. Sky reports she scored her team's final 11 points of that quarter.

In the fourth, she hit nine straight points, including a deep three that made it 60-57 with 2:18 left. The Valkyries never gave the lead back. She also racked up four blocks, because apparently scoring wasn't enough.

The Tea ☕

• The Valkyries won the title in their second season, the newest team in the WNBA.
• It was the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history.
• Williams joins Penny Taylor (Phoenix, 2007) as the only players in WNBA history with 30+ points in a winner-take-all Finals game, per Sky.

The Redemption Arc

If you want the emotional gut-punch: Sky notes Williams had come SO close before. She lost the 2024 Paris Olympic gold medal game to the US by a single point, and fell to the US again at the FIBA Women's World Cup this September, both playing for France.

Now she has her ring. "I just walked into a group full of love," she said, per Sky. "And that just changed the entire trajectory of my career."

Teammate Veronica Burton called her "a humble superstar" and said "she's the reason we're here."

Heartbreak For Atlanta

Spare a thought for the Dream. They got 18 points from Jordin Canada, 16 from Allisha Gray, and eight points and 12 rebounds from Angel Reese, but it's the fourth time they've lost the Finals in their 18-year history, per BBC Sport.

Coach Natalie Nakase called Williams "our closer," adding: "Closing with 30, that is incredible!"

When the buzzer sounded, the violet-clad crowd erupted, players sprinted onto the floor, and confetti fell from the rafters. We're not crying, you're crying.

So we have to ask: is this the greatest Cinderella story in recent pro sports history, or are we getting carried away? And does Gabby Williams get a statue? Sound off below.

Sources: Sky Sports | BBC Sport