Valkyries beat Dream to win first WNBA championship

The Golden State Valkyries won their first WNBA championship, beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 of the Finals as Gabby Williams scored 30 points and earned series Most Valuable Player honors. The victory came in the franchise’s second season and in the first WNBA Finals series to reach a seventh game. Golden State rallied from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter and held off Atlanta in the closing minutes at Chase Center in San Francisco. Williams, the Valkyries’ only All-Star, scored 11 consecutive points for Golden State late in the third quarter and continued to lead the offense in the fourth. She finished with 30 points, making 10 of 23 shots, and set Finals records with 137 points and 18 steals across the series. She also had four of the team’s eight blocks in Game 7. The game’s late sequence included a go-ahead three-pointer by Williams and a basket by Kiah Stokes. Accounts differed on the timing and order of some closing plays, so the precise sequence is not clear from the reported details. Golden State secured the win after Atlanta cut into the lead in the final seconds; Veronica Burton collected a jump ball and made two free throws with 5.1 seconds...