WNBA Finals Game 1: Golden State 68, Atlanta 64
By the Numbers
- Golden State drew its 50th-consecutive sellout crowd of 18,064. The Valkyries have sold out every regular and postseason game in team history.
- Gabby Williams scored a game-high 26 points, 16 of which came in the second quarter which are a career high in a quarter in any game for Williams.
- Her 16 points are the third most in a quarter in WNBA Finals history.
- Kiah Stokes tied her career postseason high with four blocks, and added nine points and seven rebounds.
- Kaila Charles had a postseason career high 10 rebounds to go with seven points, becoming the sixth player in WNBA Finals history to post 10 rebounds in a game as a reserve.
- Tiffany Hayes had six rebounds and four assists to go with three points.
- Laeticia Amihere had five points and five rebounds, and was +9 in 14 minutes of action.
- The Valkyries posted 20 bench points compared to Atlanta’s six.
- Golden State outrebounded the Dream, 41-35. The Valkyries have outrebounded their opponent in all six postseason wins this year.
- The Valkyries held Atlanta to just eight points in the fourth quarter, 10.5 percent (2-19) shooting from the field including 0-7 from three. It's the fewest points allowed in a WNBA Finals quarter since 2022.
Quotes
HEAD COACH NATALIE NAKASE:
ON GABBY WILLIAMS’ BIG SECOND QUARTER:
“Just taking over. Gabby's [Williams] one of our closers. Being at this point of the season in the finals, Gabby is one of the best players in the world, hands down. She's showing that when we need some buckets, she's willing to go out there, get to her spots and take over. I think she's showing it at the perfect time right now, and that's what we need.”
ON KAILA CHARLES:
“It's funny because someone asked about Kai [Kaila Charles] earlier, and how important she is. Her engine was on full throttle tonight. She emptied the tank the minute she stepped on that floor. You could feel her, and you could feel when I took her out, we were missing that. She led us with 10 [rebounds]. Her fight was unmatched tonight. She's exactly what we needed. Her composure, too, on when to punch and when to get to the basket. I thought she did a steady job. She had a crucial three when we needed it. Kai was like our pure remedy tonight.”
ON HOW THE ADVERSITY OF THE POSTSEASON PREPARED THEM TODAY:
“It definitely prepared us. Going into overtime with the Aces, coming back from 16 with Dallas, even holding on to the lead in game two versus the Aces. All those moments in game situations, they're definitely building our experience, and more importantly our composure and clarity on what we should be running and how we should be executing on both ends. So I love it because it makes them watch more film, too because when we're on the same page, we're pretty confident and we're composed at the same time.”
GOLDEN STATE FORWARD GABBY WILLIAMS AND CENTER KIAH STOKES
ON THE COMPOSURE DOWN THE STRETCH:
Williams: “Even though we were down with a few minutes left, I think we had the game right where we wanted it, because it just came down to getting stops. That's been our bread and butter all season. That's why we harp on it so much, because we've built great defensive habits for these moments.”
ON MAINTAINING GOLDEN STATE DEFENSE IN THE SECOND HALF:
Stokes: “[We] just try to make things as difficult as possible. She [Angel Reese] definitely got going in that first half, so we just wanted to limit her touches and [put] a big emphasis on boxing out and rebounding.”
ON GABBY WILLIAMS’ DEFENSIVE LEADERSHIP:
Williams: “I would give a lot of credit to Kiah [Stokes] on that. She’s probably like the best screener in the league, which isn’t really talked about enough, but she knows what angles to read the defense. Atlanta [Dream] also did a great job, I’m going to have to go back and watch the video to see what they did well on those screens, and what I can improve on.”
ON BREAKING DOWN GAME SITUATIONS:
Williams: “I’m counting. I’m counting possessions, I’m counting points, what do we need now, what’s the most timely time to go. I think it’s just the best way to take the pressure off things, is to just break them down possession by possession.”
Up Next: The Valkyries host the Atlanta Dream in Game Two of the WNBA Finals on Monday, October 19 at 5 pm PT at Chase Center and airing on 95.7 The Game and the Audacy App.
