Dream beat the Valkyries 79-65 to even the WNBA Finals behind a historic Angel Reese night

The WNBA Finals are tied.

The Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 79-65 in Game 2 on Monday night in San Francisco to even the series 1-1. It was the first WNBA Finals win in franchise history after Atlanta had gone 0-10 in the Finals dating back to 2010.

Reese keeps her promise

Angel Reese had 14 points in Game 1 and was upset with herself after the Dream let that one slip away. She answered with 30 points and 16 rebounds.

"I let my team down last game, not really contributing as much as I could in the second half," Reese said. "I just wanted to make sure I came out tonight and left my mark. And I think I did that."

Reese joined Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart as the only players with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds in a WNBA Finals game. At 24 she is also the youngest player with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Finals. The league's Defensive Player of the Year is in her first season in Atlanta after a trade from Chicago.

"I was hungry," she said. "We felt disappointed, we felt embarrassed. I walked off the court not feeling like myself."

Coach Karl Smesko said he caught her eye in the locker room before tipoff. "Oh, I like this look," he thought.

Won at the line

Atlanta led 39-37 at halftime and broke it open in the third quarter. The Dream outscored Golden State 21-9 in the period and went 12-of-12 from the foul line. For the game they made 30 of 35 free throws and scored 24 points off 19 Valkyries turnovers.

Jordin Canada added 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. "Angel is such a generational talent," Canada said. "You can just see that she wants it really bad. We feed off her energy."

Gabby Williams, who scored 26 in Game 1, was held to 14 on 3-of-15 shooting. Tiffany Hayes also had 14 for the Valkyries. Point guard Veronica Burton took the blame for the turnovers. "We were just a little too loose with the ball," she said. "It starts with me."

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said her team needs to play harder and smarter. Game 3 is Wednesday in Atlanta.