By Barbara Mason
The Golden State Valkyries went into game six taking on the Atlanta Dream leading 3 games to 2 looking to win their first WNBA championship. Due to some crazy scheduling, the game got underway at 12:30 in Atlanta and an unheard of 9:30 start in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hard to believe that a championship game would take place in this sort of timeframe. It was downright disrespectful to both teams. Both teams were faced with the same issues and the Dream would be looking to tie up this series.
Atlanta came out with some crazy energy in the first quarter and were absolutely unstoppable. After the first ten minutes of play the Dream had taken a 32-15 lead. At the half, the Dream continued to lead outscoring Golden State 14-11 and taking a 46-26 lead into the locker room.
The game shifted in the third quarter with the Valkyries out-scoring Atlanta 21-17 and in the fourth quarter Golden State again had the advantage outscoring the Dream 22-17. Despite the Valkyries putting up a valiant rally as the clock ran out the Dream were able to hold on and win game six 80-69. This series will now return to Chase to decide the winner of the 2026 WNBA Championship.
GAME RECAP
The Dream got this game underway displaying a fierce determintion. They would not go down easily and plowed through the opening quarter taking a 32-15 lead. They steam-rolled the Valkyries and Golden State had a real fight on their hands.
The second quarter was a quiet one for both teams. Atlanta did outscore the Valkyries 14-11 in this very low-scoring quarter. At the half the Dream had a 46-26 lead.
Looking at the stats in the first half, they pretty told the story of just how the Dream built this lead. They had out-rebounded the Valkyries defensively. The turnovers were pretty close, the Dream with 5 and the Valkyries with 6. The difference here was that Atlanta conceded 2 points on their turnoverws while the Valkyries gave up ten points. The Dream had won the battle in the paint 16-8. Their largest lead of the game in the first half was 25 points getting offensive excellence from their starters and their defense was impenetrable. The Dream finished the first half with 8 three’s, the Valkyries only 3.
Allisha Gray finished the half with 10 points and Ryne Howard with eleven. Atlanta had contained Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton holding them to 4 points and 2 points respectively in the half.
Golden State started to turn this game around in the third quarter outscoring the Dream 21-17 trying to make up what they had faced in the first half. They had cut the Atlanta lead to 63-44 making up six points but had a massive hill to climb.
The Valkyries made this game very interesting in the fourth quarter making a very real run chipping away at the Dream’s lead. They outscored the Dream in the fourth 22-17 and pulled to within 8 points with just over a minute left in the game. They had cut the Dream’s largest lead by 17 points. They came up just short, Atlanta coming away with an 80-69 win in game six and tying up this series.
GAME NOTES
Golden State had a distastrous start in this game. Atlanta came out firing, building a huge first-quarter lead and forced Golden State to spend the rest of the game trying to catch up. The Valkyries absolutely got buried in the first quarter giving the Dream a 17-point lead after the first quarter. Golden State was behind the eight ball from the get-go. Their offense could not get going managing only 26 points in the entire first half. They were struggling to score enough to make-up for the early gap.
Atlanta took control of this game early. They scored 46 points in the first half. The Valkyries got their offense going in the second half but they could not erase the damage from the two opening quarters. It is encouraging going forward to see Golden State outscoring the Dream in both the third and fourth quarters. They outscored them 43-34 in the second half but the 20-point halftime deficit was just too much for the team to overcome.
Going forward the Valkyries cannot afford another slow start. They were extremely competitive in the second half but in game seven they will have to defend from the opening tip and score more consistently. The best news of all is that Golden State will be back home for game seven a definite advantage, the championship still very much within reach.
Gabby Williams really turned it on in the second half after only scoring 4 in the first half. She finished the game with 26 points the game high. Tiffany Hayes chipped in fifteen points. The Dream’s Angel Reese had another double double, 15 points and 14 rebounds. Allisha Gray had the team high with 23 points, Ryne Howard had 21 points for the Dream.
Game seven of this series will determine the winner of the 2026 WNBA Championships. The Valkyries will be back home and you can believe that Chase will be rocking a definite advantage for Golden State. This is expected to be real shoot-out with the Valkyries favored. Tip-off for this Halloween extravaganza is scheduled for 5:00 PM on Saturday. The Valkyries will be looking to hand out a lot more tricks than treats to the Dream as they will be looking for a championship after reaching the playoffs in their first year and now fighting for a championship after only two years. They will be looking to make more history.
