WNBA Finals Game 4: Golden State 67, Atlanta 62
By the Numbers
- Gabby Williams scored a team-high 17 points and added five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
- It’s Williams’ ninth game with 15+ points this postseason, the most in the league this playoffs.
- Kiah Stokes added three blocks and now has 14 during the WNBA Finals, an all-time WNBA record for the most blocks in a single Finals.
- Stokes now has four games with three or more blocks this Finals, an all-time record, and her seven games this postseason with three or more blocks are also a WNBA record.
- Stokes tied a postseason career high with 16 rebounds, tied for most in a single game this postseason.
- Stokes’ 3.5 blocks per game during the WNBA Finals are also currently an all-time WNBA record.
- Cecilia Zandalasini reached a new postseason high in steals with three, tying her previous high in the first half alone. Zandalasini also added 10 points on 4-8 (50 percent) shooting.
- Tiffany Hayes scored 13 points in the start, seven of which game in the fourth quarter.
- Hayes (7) and Veronica Burton (6) combined to score all of Golden State’s 13 points in the fourth quarter.
- The Valkyries shot 55.6 percent (10-19) from the field in the second quarter while scoring 26 points, nine of which came from Williams and seven from Burton.
- Golden State grabbed six team steals in the first half compared to Atlanta’s one.
- Golden State held Atlanta to just 26 points in the first half, their second-lowest scoring half this postseason (the lowest being their 25 points in the second half of Game 1).
- The Valkyries have held Atlanta to 65 points or less in both Finals wins this season.
- The Valkyries forced 18 turnovers, while only committing nine.
- Golden State held Dream forward Angel Reese, who entered the matchup averaging 21.7 PPG this Finals, to just eight points on 2-12 shooting (16.7 percent).
Quotes
HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:
ON GABBY WILLIAMS’ LEADERSHIP:
“I thought her defense was on an elite, elite level. I mean, she's one of the top defenders in the world for a reason. You can see when she's locked in on her matchup and her game plan, she can get after it and create more possessions.”
ON GOLDEN STATE’S COMPOSURE:
“The best thing about our team is that no one cares who starts. No one cares, people come off the bench, it doesn’t matter. We can do that because we have a really selfless team, an ego-less team, so we just wanted to change it up…We're mixing things up. When we mix things up and stay connected, that really messes up the opponent. That's just what we're trying to do is keep them off rhythm. Credit to the players for picking things up, looking at each other, having each other's back, and then more importantly, [moving] the ball. I thought Ceci [Cecilia Zandalasini] just did an amazing job getting to her spots. You could tell she's really comfortable with the punches that she was making.”
ON KIAH STOKES’ IMPACT:
“I think she feels really connected [with Golden State], even though this is her first year with our team. The fact that I always see her with a smile on her face, but more importantly, she's a pro…She does an amazing job of not letting outside noise get to her. Kiah leads by example for our team, and I think that's really important because she's been through the WNBA Finals many times. I love that the biggest thing is that Kiah stays consistent. She doesn't look for outside noise. She actually doesn't like attention, and so with that type of star mentality, I think that's really what keeps us really focused.”
GOLDEN STATE CENTER KIAH STOKES GUARD GABBY WILLIAMS
ON THE ADJUSTMENTS HEADING INTO TODAY
Williams: “Defense…we just picked up our ball pressure. I think we're a bit more connected today, and that gives us our energy.”
ON BREAKING THE ALL-TIME WNBA FINALS BLOCKS RECORD:
Stokes: “That's kind of cool to hear [breaking the record], but I just hang my hat on defense. I like to block shots…I'm trying to be the last on defense for our team, It allows my guards to bring pressure a little more. I know they have confidence that I have their back, so I'm just trying to do what I can do.”
ON THE CHANGE IN MINDSET HEADING INTO TODAY:
Williams: “I think it got me going. I didn't like my last game, I didn't like who I was in that last game, so I think stepping up in that [leadership] role made me step up individually. If I want to lead my team, I have to be the one that sets the tone, and I have to lead by example as well. I think that motivated me to set the tempo today, [to] start off the game with a lot of aggressiveness. Before the game I just talked to the team about not having regrets, and that the beauty of our sport is as bad as we felt on Wednesday, we get to turn around and make it right up to that.”
ON THE FIRST HALF:
Stokes: “We just really emphasized coming out strong. We just wanted to make sure nothing was easy for Atlanta. I think the last couple games, we kind of allowed them to punch first. We just wanted to make that effort to just make sure that we were the aggressors.”
Up Next: Golden State returns home to host Game 5 against the Atlanta Dream on Monday, October 26 at 5 p.m. PT and airing on USA, Peacock, 95.7 The Game, ESPN 1320 and the Audacy App.
