Golden State Valkyries took a 1-0 lead in the WNBA Finals after securing 68-64 win over Atlanta Dream in Game 1, defending their home court to gain early advantage in the best-of-seven series. The Valkyries, who have won all five playoff games at home this postseason and had the best record at home in the regular season, snapped the Dream's 10-game winning streak, which dated to the regular season.Download our MozzartSport App For More NewsGabby Williams led Golden State with 26 points, including four free throws in the final 1:18 to seal the victory in a back-and-forth game that featured seven lead changes.In a game between the top two defenses in the league, the win was forced by the Valkyries defensive efforts in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.Atlanta led for most of the game, taking a 22-14 lead in the opening quarter but the hosts dominated the second period 28-17 to take a three-point advantage to the halftime break. Madina Okot's Atlanta had another dominant period in the third, going 17-9 ahead.CAF CC:Tusker complicate chances of reaching group stage after narrow loss to Tanzanian sideBoth teams made big runs in this game, which set up a fourth quarter that was all about grit and determination. And also timing. After being outscored 17-9 in the third quarter, the Valkyries outscored the Dream 17-8 in the fourth quarter.The Dream went just 4-of-25 from 3-point range, with Allisha Gray going 1-of-8. They were 18-of-21 from the foul line, but that was an area where the Valkyries were able to make up ground in the fourth quarter, finishing 11-of-16 from the stripe.##NAJAVA_MECA_10036272##Getting into crunch time, Atlanta seemed to get a little too sped up offensively and took shots too early when it would have helped the Dream to work their offense more.Rebounding ended up being a key factor, as the Valkyries won the board battle 41-35.Gray returned from injury to pace the Dream with 19 points but didn't score in the fourth quarter when the Dream shot 2-for-20 in the period. Angel Reese had 14 points, all in the first half, and 12 rebounds, six in each half.“Some of the late 3-point attempts were good,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “Some of them, they had us well defended and we were getting late on the clock. But we had a couple, what I would call good looks, just didn’t go down for us. Allisha had a good look at 3. Rhyne had a good look at 3. We knock down either of those and we’re not talking about whatever mistakes we make.”Master on pitch, master on board – Chess as Salah's obsession
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