Valkyries even WNBA Finals with 67-62 win over Dream in Game 4 behind 17 points from Gabby Williams

The WNBA Finals are tied at 2-2 after the Golden State Valkyries responded with their best performance of the series for a 67-62 win over the Dream in Game 4 on Saturday in Atlanta.Game 5 will be Monday in San Francisco at 8 p.m. ET. Gabby Williams scored 17, while Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton each added 13 to lead Golden State. Hayes' contribution was especially notable with Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase changing the starting lineup, swapping Hayes and Kaila Charles for Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini. "I just wanted to change it up. The best thing about our team is, like, no one cares who starts," Nakase said after the game. "No one cares. People on the bench. It doesn't matter. We can do that because they're a really selfless team, egoless team."Golden State missed its first six shots before taking control of the game with a 12-0 run in the first quarter to take a 16-11 lead. The Dream pushed back in the second but each time they got close, Burton would hit a basket to keep Atlanta at a distance. The Valkyries outscored the Dream 26-15 in the second quarter to take a 42-26 lead into halftime.Atlanta got 19 points from Rhyne Howard, but couldn't get enough from the rest of the lineup. Jordin Canada and Isobel Borlase both contributed 10 points, but Allisha Gray tallied only 5 points while dealing with her hand injury and foul trouble that restricted her to 22 minutes. Additionally, Angel Reese scored 8 points and had 6 turnovers to go with her 9 rebounds and 3 blocks after recording double-doubles in each of the series' first three games. Reese shot 2 of 12 from the floor and also missed her only 3-point attempt in what's become a key factor for the Dream throughout the regular season and playoffs. "I think I rushed a lot on my shots," Reese said afterward. "I didn't take my time and finish around the basket like I'd been doing the last three games." Golden State pushed the pace to prevent the Dream from utilizing its frontcourt advantage (notably Reese). The Valkyries shot 36% overall, but took 72 shots to Atlanta's 54 (on 33% shooting), creating multiple scoring opportunities. The Dream also contributed to the Valkyries' effort by committing 17 turnovers.The Valkyries also played more physically inside, frustrating Atlanta and leading to several confrontations between Reese and Golden State's Kiah Stokes and Hayes. That may have taken Reese out of her game, as her numbers demonstrated."The goal when we play on the road is just to steal a win," Stokes said after the game. The 11-year veteran had 3 blocks or more for the fourth consecutive game, setting a record for a WNBA Finals with 14 so far in the series.The 2026 WNBA Finals are now a best-of-three series with two of those games set to be played on the Valkyries' home court at Chase Center in San Francisco, beginning with Monday's Game 5. As Yahoo Sports' Cassandra Negley pointed out during the live updates of Saturday's matchup, the Valkyries ensuring that a Game 6 will be necessary in this series causes some logistical issues. Atlanta's State Farm Arena will be unavailable Thursday, as the NBA's Atlanta Hawks have a home game. The Dream and WNBA were able to make arrangements to play Games 3 and 4 at the larger venue after it initially wasn't available, but that likely won't be possible for the last game to be played in Atlanta for this series.