The Valkyries hold the Dream scoreless over the final 3:12 to win Game 1 of the WNBA Finals 68-64

The Atlanta Dream led for most of the afternoon. The Golden State Valkyries led when it counted.

Gabby Williams scored 26 points and the Valkyries did not allow a point over the final 3:12 as they beat the Dream 68-64 on Saturday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. A sold-out crowd of 18,064 at Chase Center in San Francisco watched the second-year franchise win its first Finals game.

A late push

Atlanta led 56-51 after three quarters and still held a 64-61 edge after Rhyne Howard made two free throws with 3:12 to go. The Dream never scored again.

Williams made two free throws to cut the gap to one and then two more with 1:18 left to give Golden State a 65-64 lead. Kiah Stokes added a free throw with 23.8 seconds left and Williams closed it out with two more at the line with 4.1 seconds to play. Allisha Gray missed two 3-point tries in the final eight seconds.

Atlanta scored just eight points in the fourth quarter.

A defensive grind

The league's two best defensive teams played like it. Golden State shot 32 percent from the field and Atlanta shot 33 percent. The Dream made only 4 of 25 3-pointers. The Valkyries blocked 10 shots with four from Stokes and two from Veronica Burton.

Williams went 8 of 22 from the field and 7 of 8 from the line. Stokes had nine points and seven rebounds. Charles grabbed 10 rebounds off the bench.

Gray returns

Gray started for Atlanta after missing the last two games of the semifinals with an injured left ring finger on her shooting hand. She scored a team-high 19 points but needed 19 shots to get there and made all eight of her free throws. Angel Reese had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Howard scored 12 and Jordin Canada handed out seven assists.

The Dream jumped out to a 22-14 lead after one quarter before Golden State took a 42-39 lead into halftime.

What's next

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Monday in San Francisco. Golden State coach Natalie Nakase and Atlanta coach Karl Smesko are each chasing a first WNBA title for their franchise.