Gabby Williams named MVP as the Golden State Valkyries win first WNBA championship

Gabby Williams wouldn't be denied in the second half.

She scored 28 of her 30 points in the final 20 minutes as the Golden State Valkyries won the WNBA championship in just their second season with a 68-63 Game 7 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Saturday night. She broke the WNBA Finals record for points in a half and earned MVP honors for her effort.

“I love moments like this,” Williams said. “(Coach) Natalie (Nakase) told me to be patient in the first half. I listened to her.”

It was her first title in the WNBA after spending time in Chicago and Seattle before coming to the Valkyries this season.

The 30-year-old star won a championship in college and while playing overseas, but had fallen just short while playing for France in the Olympics and FIBA World Cup, losing to the U.S. for the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games by a point and in the women's FIBA World Cup this past September.

Now in her first chance on the WNBA's biggest stage, Williams wouldn't let the opportunity slip away.

“Super impressed by Gabby. Tonight she showed who she can be,” teammate Kiah Stokes said. “She’s been our offense, the head of it all season. For her to come out Game 7, do or die with everything on the line. Super proud of (her). We couldn’t have done this without (her).”

Williams joined Penny Taylor as the only players in WNBA history to score 30 or more points in a winner-take-all Finals game. Taylor did it in 2007 for Phoenix when it was a best-of-five series.

Her team trailing by six points at the half, Williams got going in the third quarter, hitting shots from all over the court. After scoring just two points in the first half, she had 15 points in the third quarter, including the final 11, to give the Valkyries a 45-44 advantage heading into the final period.

The game was tied at 53 when Williams scored nine straight points for the Valkyries, including a deep 3-pointer that made it 60-57 with 2:18 left. It was a lead the team wouldn't relinquish.

“It's incredible. she's a humble superstar. She's the reason we're here. At halftime she was like ‘I just got to get going,'" Veronica Burton said. "Once she got going there was no stopping her. She hit shot after shot and got stop after stop. She gets it done on both sides of the floor.”

Williams, who was runner-up for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, had four blocks, setting the tone early.

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