Angel Reese Scores 30 Points as Dream Beat Valkyries 79-65 to Even WNBA Finals 1-1
Reese finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds, Jordin Canada banked a 32-foot buzzer-beater to close the third quarter, and Atlanta heads home to State Farm Arena with the series tied. Game 3 is Wednesday.
SAN FRANCISCO: Angel Reese scored 30 points and pulled down 16 rebounds as the Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 on Monday night at Chase Center, tying the WNBA Finals at one game apiece, according to the Associated Press.
The No. 4 seed Dream avoided a 2-0 hole after dropping the opener 68-64 on Saturday, their first loss of the postseason. The best-of-seven series now shifts to Atlanta, with Game 3 on Wednesday at State Farm Arena.
Reese scored more than twice her Game 1 total, when all 14 of her points came before halftime. “I left a lot of points on the board (in Game 1),” she said at halftime Monday, when she already had 15 points and seven rebounds. “So I got to make up for her and try to lead this team to a win tonight.”
Allisha Gray added 18 points and five rebounds in her second game back from a finger injury, and Rhyne Howard set a WNBA Finals record with six steals, USA Today reported. Atlanta recorded 14 steals and forced 18 turnovers, holding Golden State to 34 percent shooting. The Dream shot 34 percent themselves in a physical, low-scoring game.
Jordin Canada closed the third quarter with a banked 32-foot shot from midcourt as time expired. The Dream outscored the Valkyries 21-9 in the third and entered the fourth up 60-46.
From collapse to control
Game 2 answered an urgent question for Atlanta. In the opener, the Dream shot 2 for 19 and scored eight points over the final 10 minutes, falling apart late after Reese scored all of her points in the first half. On Monday, they trailed 21-18 after one quarter but took a 39-37 halftime lead when veteran DeWanna Bonner hit an 18-foot pull-up jumper with four seconds left and shushed the crowd of more than 18,000 at Chase Center.
Bonner, who won WNBA championships with the Phoenix Mercury in 2009 and 2014, signed with the Dream in August and has become a steady part of the rotation. Howard, Atlanta’s other defensive standout, picked up her fourth foul in the second quarter but stayed on the floor to disrupt Golden State’s guards.
The Valkyries were led by Gabby Williams and Tiffany Hayes with 14 points each, and Veronica Burton added 11, according to USA Today. Williams, who scored 26 in Game 1, shot 3 of 15 from the field on Monday. Golden State center Kiah Stokes blocked four shots, giving her four in each of the first two Finals games. She is only the second player in WNBA Finals history to do that in consecutive games, after Brittney Griner in 2014.
Atlanta led by as many as 21 points in the fourth before closing out the 14-point win. The Dream are chasing the first championship in franchise history. Game 3 tips off Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena, airing on USA Network and CNBC with streaming on Peacock.
Reporting based on coverage by the Associated Press and USA Today.
