The WNBA Finals will have a Game 7. After the Atlanta Dream defeated Golden State today, 80-69, the series is now tied. Saturday’s game will determine this year’s WNBA Finals winner.
The Valkyries and Dream were forced to play at 9:30 a.m. Pacific this morning due to a scheduling conflict at State Farm arena, where the Atlanta Hawks will play the primetime game tonight. On Monday Valkyries guard Veronica Burton recommended that fans call in sick to watch the game. From the looks of things across San Francisco, a lot of people took Burton’s advice.
On Thursday morning, swarms of purple were visible everywhere from Rikki’s, the city’s only sports bar dedicated to women’s sports, to queer spaces like Mother, to pubs like Barebottle Brewery in Bernal. No doubt the game was playing on laptops in offices around the city and on televisions where Valkyries fans were “working from home”.
At Thrive City, a long, lavender line to watch the game on the giant screen outside Chase Center was well underway an hour before tip off even though the Valkyries themselves were over 2,000 miles away from Ballhalla. The crowd that gathered around the screen cheered when the Valkyries appeared and booed when players from the Dream were featured, just as Valkyries’ coach Natalie Nakase had ordered them to do inside the arena.
A few in attendance tried to multi-task, including a woman dressed as a Valkyrie warrior in a sparkling purple cape and gold chest plate, who appeared to be also fully participating in a Zoom meeting.
The game was rough. Eager fans watched in horror as the Valks got trampled in the first quarter. After five games of poor shooting on both sides, Atlanta flipped the script in the first ten minutes of play, going six for eight from beyond the arc.
When Angel Reese hit a three point shot in the second quarter, fans hung their heads in both shame and awe. The Dream has gone 15-0 this season in games where Reese makes a three. Today’s game extends that perfect record to 16.
The Dream weren’t just making their shots, they were also out-rebounding the Valkyries and capitalizing on turnovers too. Meanwhile, the Valkyries missed several shots right at the basket.
But even down by 20 at the half, Golden State did not make it easy for Atlanta. They reduced the lead to 16 going into the fourth and got as close as 8 with one minute to go in the final quarter. But every time the Valkyries got momentum, the Dream would sink a three. All net.
In the final minutes of the game, a hard collision took Tiffany Hayes, a player known for bouncing back after hard knocks, out of the game. Her status is unclear but Valkyries fans hope she is ok and will be back for the final match.
Game 7 of the WNBA Finals will be on Saturday October 31 at 5 p.m. in an arena formerly known as Ballhalla. See you at Boohalla, Valks fans!