Yahoo Sports Staff Updated Sun, November 1, 2026 at 1:03 AM UTC About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this story The first WNBA Finals Game 7 is overlapping with Halloween on Saturday night. More history will be made, regardless of who comes out on top, as both the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream are a win away from their first league titles.
Atlanta kept its championship dream alive on Thursday. Despite the controversial early tip-off , Karl Smesko's team came out firing on all cylinders, making 6-of-8 triples while establishing the largest first-quarter lead in a WNBA Finals game.
The Dream built on that 17-point advantage in the second quarter, led by as many as 25 points and ultimately held off a late push from Gabby Williams and the Valkyries, finishing with 13 made 3-pointers in an 80-69 victory .
Natalie Nakase's Golden State squad didn't use the scheduling quirk as an excuse for its slow start. The Valkyries will be on their home floor for the winner-take-all matchup Saturday. At San Francisco's Chase Center, a champion will finally emerge from what's been a highly entertaining, well-attended, back-and-forth series.
Game 7 of the 2026 WNBA Finals between the Dream and Valkyries will begin Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network and CNBC , also streaming on Peacock.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, news and highlights from Game 7 of the WNBA Finals:
Jordin Canada adds a huge three-pointer to her busy night — she's at 13 points and three rebounds so far — to pull Atlanta to the 30-point mark and a six-point lead heading into the locker room.
It's been low-scoring and defensive half as expected, but things feel like they're heating up before the halftime break.
Veronica Burton chatted with the official there bringing the ball up the court. I know the Valkyries as a team don't like to invite bulletin board material or engage in controversy in any way. But I do find it surprising there was no retort of any sort to Angel claiming the Dream went up 2-1 in the series and calls stopped being called for them. Truly feels like both teams could make a series-long argument.
Golden State is 1-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first half so far.
Jordin Canada is the first player of the game to hit double-digits, with 8 of her points coming in the second quarter alone. She gets a gritty finish and nails the and-one, before adding another free throw after drawing a foul.
With her second rebound tonight, per league PR: DeWanna Bonner has reached 600 career postseason defensive rebounds, becoming the first player in WNBA history to reach the milestone.
After the Valkyries go scoreless in the first five minutes of the second quarter, Veronica Burton draws the foul and scores two free throws to get them back into it. Still, it's been a 9-2 run so far for Atlanta. This second quarter is starting to feel like a near reverse of the first.
Fun fact: The Dream have yet to lose a game this year (regular season and postseason) when Angel Reese has scored a three-pointer.
DeWanna Bonner knocks down a stellar jumper to give Atlanta a five-point lead, forcing Golden State to take a timeout. The Dream are on a 5-0 run to start the second quarter.
Bold move from Rhyne Howard, who dives to grab at a loose ball and end up drawing the jump ball call. Howard is putting her body on the line tonight.
Random thoughts that cross the mind: neither of these teams even made the semifinals a year ago. Valkyries were swept by the No. 1 seeded Minnesota Lynx. Dream lost to the Fever in Game 3 on their own court.
The Valkyries take a 14-12 lead to close out the first quarter after another big Veronica Burton bucket. The Dream exploded (or as much as you can explode against a defense like Golden State) towards the end of the quarter, but the Valks have the narrow lead for now.
As promised, we've got a low-scoring matchup, but one with plenty of entertainment on defense.
And Atlanta takes a 11-10 lead, erasing all of the defensive goodwill that the Valkyries had set up by holding the Dream scoreless.
The Dream finally get on the board after six minutes of playing time, with Angel Reese landing a layup. Allisha Gray then picked up a layup and a three-pointer back-to-back to bring Atlanta within one point of Golden State.
Five blocks already for the Valkyries, as the first quarter winds down — but a quiet stretch on offense threatens to let the Dream overtake them.
Well, the Dream have found themselves in quite the pickle costume here. They have yet to score at the 5:43 mark. Rhyne Howard is, once again, up to two fouls. They've turned it over twice and have my quick count two (basically three) shot clock violations. Kiah Stokes and Gabby Williams each delivered emphatic blocks. The Stokes swat of Jordin Canada after the guard cut baseline for an Angel Reese pass has to feel particularly frustrating for Atlanta fans.
Atlanta, still scoreless after more than four minutes of play, calls a timeout to try and reset the momentum.
Valkyries are only up by eight points, but they have all of the control early in the matchup.
In case you forgot this was a defensive battle, the Valkyries and the Dream exchanged three turnovers and two blocks in the first minute of the game.
Golden State leads after a great early bucket from Veronica Burton.
The biggest question that will determine this game is who punches first. And VERY early that belongs to the Valkyries.
It feels louder in here than previous games. Kristi Yamaguchi banged the drum. And we're moments from tip of the final game of the WNBA season. It's been a long one.
Source: Sports
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