Gabby Williams scored 17 points on Saturday (Sunday AEST) to help the visiting Golden State Valkyries post a 67-62 victory over the Atlanta Dream and even the WNBA Finals at two games apiece.
Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton each scored 13 points for Golden State, which won despite making just four of its 25 3-point attempts. Cecilia Zandalasini had 10 points and Kiah Stokes pulled down 16 rebounds for the Valkyries, who return home for Game 5 on Monday.
Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 19 points while Jordin Canada and Australia’s Izzy Borlase chipped in 10 apiece. Angel Reese (eight points) and Allisha Gray (five points) shot a combined 3-for-19 from the field.
Atlanta sliced its 16-point half-time deficit to 46-40 when Borlase made a 3-pointer with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
Hayes scored four straight points to extend the visitors’ lead to 11 before two Canada free throws narrowed the margin to 54-45 after the third.
Consecutive baskets by Howard and Borlase pulled the Dream to within six, but Burton responded with a 3-pointer to make it 64-55 at the 4:23 mark of the fourth.
From there, two Howard foul shots and Reese’s lay-up cut the deficit to five with 1:36 left. Atlanta had chances to inch closer, but Gray and Borlase missed 3-point attempts before Burton hit a runner on the other end to give the Valkyries a 66-59 advantage with 34.6 seconds remaining.
Howard converted a 3-point play, but Burton split a pair of free throws to give Golden State a 67-62 lead.
Howard and Canada missed 3-point tries on the next possession to seal the Valkyries’ massive win.
Australia’s Izzy Borlase had 10 points for Atlanta in Game 4. (Getty Images: Colin Hubbard)
Borlase made a driving lay-up to give the Dream a 7-2 edge just over four minutes in. Golden State scored the next 12 points and grabbed a 14-7 lead on Zandalasini’s 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the opening quarter.
The Valkyries held a 16-11 advantage entering the second quarter despite missing nine of their 10 3-point attempts.
After Reese’s basket pulled the Dream within four, Golden State rattled off a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 33-20 on Burton’s bank with 2:46 left in the half.
Kayla Thornton drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to 16. Williams closed the first half with a lay-up to put the Valkyries up 42-26.
Golden State attempted 40 first-half field goals to Atlanta’s 19 as the Valkyries forced the Dream into 14 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Reuters
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