Four former UConn players were crowned WNBA champions on Saturday night when the Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream in Game 7 of the finals, 68-63. Gabby Williams, Tiffany Hayes and Kaitlyn Chen each won their first title while Kiah Stokes claimed her fourth. Williams earned Finals MVP honors after putting up 30 points — 28 of which came in the second half — in the clincher.
In the fourth quarter, 21 of Golden State’s 23 points were scored by Huskies. Overall, Williams, Hayes (11 points) and Stokes (eight points) accounted for 72.1 percent of the Valkyries’ total. Stokes also added a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with two blocks. Chen appeared for just one minute of game action.
For much of the series, Stokes made a strong case for the MVP. At one point, she had piled up six straight games with at least three blocks and helped slow down Dream star Angel Reese. After Game 5, MVP chants echoed throughout the Chase Center in San Francisco and Golden State coach Natalie Nakase declared that Stokes would be MVP if the team came out on top.
That didn’t ultimately come to pass because of Williams’ heroics. After settling for silver medals at the 2024 Olympics and 2026 World Cup with France, she wasn’t going to be denied again. According to ESPN, her 28 second-half points were the most in any half in WNBA playoffs history, while her 30 points matched the previous high-water mark in a winner-take-all game in the finals. At one point, Williams scored 15 consecutive points for the Valkyries.
“That’s f—ing incredible,” Nakase said about Williams’ performance afterwards.
Meanwhile, Hayes finally reached the mountaintop in her 14th WNBA season at age 37. Chen, meanwhile, capped off a breakout second year. As a rookie, she didn’t make Golden State’s roster out of training camp, though she eventually signed back during the regular season. But Chen emerged as a key role player in 2026 and solidified her place in the league.
She also helped ease the tension in the lead up to Game 7 by showing up to the arena in a hot dog costume for Halloween.
This is the seventh straight season that a UConn grad has won a WNBA title. The streak began in 2020 with Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck on the Seattle Storm. In 2021, Stef Dolson and Azura Stevens came out on top with the Chicago Sky. In 2022, the Stokes Dynasty began with her first title as a member of the Las Vegas Aces. She repeated (as did the Aces) in 2023. In 2024, Stewart captured her third overall but first with the New York Liberty. In 2025, Stokes added another with the Aces.
Some additional stats:
- Golden State’s four UConn players are tied with the 2015 Minnesota Lynx (Maya Moore, Renee Montgomery, Asjha Jones, Kalana Greene) for most on a WNBA championship team.
- Williams is the fourth Husky to win WNBA Finals MVP, joining Diana Taurasi (2009), Moore (2013) and Breanna Stewart (2018).
- Stokes’ four WNBA titles are tied with Sue Bird (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020) and Maya Moore (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) for the most by a UConn grad.
- In the same vein, Stokes now has a combined seven NCAA national championships and WNBA titles. Only Stewart can match that among Huskies.
- Stokes is the fourth player in WNBA history to win back-to-back titles with two different teams. Oddly enough, fellow UConn alum Kelly Schumacher — like Stokes, Schumacher was known best for her shot-blocking ability — did it first with the Phoenix Mercury in 2007 and the Detroit Shock in 2009. Le’coe Willingham (2009 with the Mercury, 2010 with the Seattle Storm) and Natasha Howard (2017 with the Lynx, 2018 with the Storm) are the others.
- Stokes is the third Husky to win a WNBA title with multiple teams, joining Schumacher and Stewart.
