Gabby Williams scored just two points at halftime in the Golden State Valkyries’ Game 7 against the Atlanta Dream. The Valkyries trailed the Dream by 6 and once again struggled on offense.
But Williams went on to hit three straight 3-pointers and 15 points in the third quarter. He finished the night with 30 points, 4 blocks, 2 steals and 2 assists. He set a new record for most points in a Finals half (28), surpassing Angel McCoughtry’s previous record of 27 points.
“Man, I don’t know,” Williams said in an interview. “I love moments like that. Nat told me to be patient in the first half – it was tough but I listened and he was right as always.”
The Valkyries trailed by 9 points in the third quarter when Williams caught fire, scoring 11 points in a two-minute span to give the Valkyries a 1-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Williams, whom Valkyries owner Joe Lacob declared the best player in the world in the first round of the playoffs, looked like him when it mattered most.
During the season, Williams averaged 14.4 points and 2.2 assists per game. But in the postseason, he upped his game, averaging 20.3 points and 3.4 assists per game entering the decisive Game 7. Williams scored 26 points in Games 1 and 6 of the Finals, but he saved his best performance for last.
Tiffany Hayes added 11 points and Veronica Burton added 10 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. Kiah Stokes collected 8 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.
“All it took was good people,” Williams said. “It is. All we heard last year was: we don’t have stars, we don’t have talent – yeah. We have good people, we have winners, we have people who want to put their bodies on the floor to win games. They don’t care about scoring – they just want to play defense, rebound, and we’ve created a great culture here.”