Valkyries Stifle Dream in Game 4, Even the WNBA Finals at 2-2

The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday afternoon at State Farm Arena, evening the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

Golden State built a 42-26 halftime lead behind a defense that forced 14 Atlanta turnovers in the first half and held the Dream to 26 points, their largest halftime deficit of the playoffs. Atlanta won the second half and still lost, because a 16-point hole against a defense playing like that is a mountain, not a deficit.

Gabby Williams led Golden State with 17 points. Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton scored 13 each, and Cecilia Zandalasini added 10 off the bench. Kiah Stokes scored only four points but grabbed 16 rebounds, eight of them offensive, and finished with three blocks to set a WNBA Finals record with 14 blocks through four games.

Atlanta star Angel Reese was held to eight points on 2-of-12 shooting after averaging 25.5 points and 14 rebounds in the Dream's two wins. Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 19 points, and Jordin Canada and Isobel Borlase scored 10 each. Atlanta committed 17 turnovers in the game, and Golden State scored 16 points off those mistakes.

The series moves back to San Francisco for Game 5 on Monday night, with a guaranteed Game 6 back in Atlanta on Thursday. The Dream are still the better team in this series on paper, but Golden State just proved it can win ugly on the road, and ugly travels.