No. 4 Atlanta took control at home, besting No. 2 Golden State 97-71 in Valkyries vs Dream Game 3 to grab a 2-1 2026 WNBA Finals lead in front of a sold-out State Farm Arena.
Angel Reese put up 21 points and 12 rebounds to become the youngest player with three straight double-doubles in a title series, backed by Rhyne Howard’s 16 points and five steals.
“We fought for this arena, so we have to protect it,” Howard said, after the Dream moved Games 3 and 4 from the 3,500-seat Gateway Center to 17,044-seat State Farm. “We went and stole one [at Golden State], but we couldn’t let them come in and do the same thing.”
The third quarter once again belonged to Atlanta, with the Dream outscoring the Valkyries a combined 63-35 during the period across three games.
Gabby Williams led Golden State with 15 points and Tiffany Hayes added 14, but the Valkyries shot just 34.8% from the field in their second Finals loss.
“We know how to come back — what’s good is that we usually come back even tighter,” coach Natalie Nakase told reporters. “This is where we lean on each other more rather than split.”
Game 4 tips off in Atlanta on Saturday at 1 PM ET (NBC).
