Dream Force the First Game 7 in WNBA Finals History, Beating Valkyries 80-69

The Atlanta Dream are one win from a championship, and the WNBA Finals are going somewhere they have never gone before. Atlanta beat the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 in Game 6 on Thursday in Atlanta, tying the series 3-3 and forcing the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history. Game 7 is Saturday, October 31 at 8:00 PM ET at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Allisha Gray delivered the night Atlanta needed. Gray scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three, with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Her dagger three with about 56 seconds left closed the door on a Golden State rally and sent the series back west.

Rhyne Howard added 21 points, and Angel Reese scored 15 points with a double-double. Atlanta led 32-15 after the first quarter, the largest first-quarter lead in Finals history, and led by 20 at halftime. Golden State never got the game back to single digits for long after that start.

Gabby Williams led Golden State with 26 points, and Tiffany Hayes added 15. The Valkyries won Game 5 at home to take a 3-2 series lead, but their offense never found its rhythm in Atlanta. The 12:30 PM ET tip, forced by a Hawks home game in the same building that night, drew a sellout crowd of 17,099 anyway.

That early tip is now part of the story of this series. A Finals clincher at lunchtime is a strange stage for the biggest game of the year, and the league heard about it all week. The answer is Game 7 in primetime, in San Francisco, with a championship on the line and no tomorrow for either team.

Atlanta is chasing its first title. Golden State is chasing a title in just its second season. One game decides which story gets told, and it is the first Game 7 the Finals have ever produced.