WNBA Finals Game 7 Is Saturday Night in San Francisco: Dream and Valkyries Play for a First Title on Halloween
The WNBA Finals have never needed a seventh game - until now. Atlanta's 80-69 win in Game 6 sent the series back to Chase Center for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern, on USA and Peacock, with both franchises chasing a first championship.
For the first time in league history, the WNBA Finals are going the distance. The Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 80-69 in Game 6 on Thursday to tie the series at three games apiece and force a Game 7 - the first in Finals history - on Saturday, October 31, at the Chase Center in San Francisco, the arena Golden State's fans call Ballhalla. Tipoff is 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central), televised on USA and streaming on Peacock.
Golden State arrived in Atlanta on Thursday able to close out its first title in only the franchise's second season. Instead the Dream stormed out of a 12:30 p.m. tipoff - an early start forced by the Atlanta Hawks' evening game in the same building - and scored 32 points in the first quarter. Atlanta put four players in double figures: Allisha Gray scored 23, Rhyne Howard 21, Angel Reese 15 with 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the series, and Jordin Canada 10. Gabby Williams led Golden State with 26 points, but the Valkyries never caught up.
What waits on Saturday is a genuine first either way. Neither franchise has won a WNBA championship: the Dream have lost three previous Finals, and the Valkyries are an expansion team in year two that has already set the league's attendance standard at Chase Center. The series returns to primetime after Game 6's lunchtime start, and the secondary market reflects the moment - USA TODAY's tickets report put Game 7 entry prices starting at $386 as of publication.
For Austin viewers, the practical line is simple: Saturday, 8 p.m. Eastern on USA, streaming on Peacock, from San Francisco. One game, two first-time-champion hopefuls, and a Halloween crowd in Ballhalla - the WNBA's first Finals Game 7 could hardly have drawn a bigger stage.
