Gabby Williams joined the Golden State Valkyries in free agency believing she could unlock another level of her game. After the best year of her career in Seattle, one that came in her seventh WNBA season, she arrived in the Bay Area looking to win, but also to see if she could raise her ceiling.
Amid the Valkyries’ four-game winning streak, she has left no doubt. Williams’ growth has lifted the Valkyries (10-5) into a tier of contenders.
Williams poured in a game-high 25 points in Golden State’s 91-80 win over Dallas on Wednesday while effectively quieting Paige Bueckers, an elite three-level scorer. During the Valkyries’ 27-7 second quarter, in which the Wings went scoreless for nearly six minutes, Williams punished Dallas in half-court sets. She pulled up in space, got downhill in transition, was fearless through traffic, and earned 12 shots at the foul line.
It was a familiar pattern for a stretch that has reshaped her role on the Valkyries.
“Gabby has been very mindful when she needs to attack, when she needs to see that open space and pull up,” coach Natalie Nakase said. “Gabby just makes the right reads, whether it’s pick-and-roll or hand-offs, or just in the open court, it’s credit to her ability to pick the defense apart.”
Now 15 games into her Golden State tenure, Williams is averaging 22.4 points over her last five outings. She arrived with defensive acclaim and was praised for her ability to create in transition — and she’s delivered all of that and more. What’s become apparent in wins over Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, and even in competitive stretches during Golden State’s second loss to Las Vegas, is the scope of Williams’ responsibility.
She’s not just a complementary piece who elevates players around her. Williams is this team’s engine.
The Valkyries’ half-court offense increasingly runs through her on the wing. In transition, she’s the trigger and the outlet. It’s an early glimpse of what Golden State’s half-court offense can look like with Williams as a No. 1 option — this group can rely on her to initiate, reset, and finish possessions.
According to Nakase, one of Williams’ biggest strengths, her selflessness, might also come with an occasional coaching challenge: convincing her to keep looking for her own shot. Even during hot stretches, Williams’ instinct is still to connect with Veronica Burton or involve Kayla Thornton — “Sometimes, though, it’s like ‘Gabby, keep going,’” Nakase said.
As Golden State has surged, she’s found a sweet spot. She’s still the connector, the tone-setter, and the defender who can jump the passing lane and swing matchups at the point of attack. The difference now is she’s also the go-to player to bend games as a scorer.
So far, Williams’ impact on each end of the floor has started to have ripple effects through the rest of the rotation. Williams, who is shooting 38.2% from 3-point range, a big improvement from her 29.1% career average, demands consistent defensive attention, allowing the other four players to organize around the pressure points that Williams creates.
When defenses load up on Williams, it has freed cleaner looks for Janelle Salaun as a perimeter shooter and Tiffany Hayes attacking downhill.
On Wednesday, Dallas’ focus on Williams gave backup point guard Kaitlyn Chen room to operate — Chen, who played a career-high 25 minutes against former UConn teammates Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, finished with 15 points and a plus-26.
Chen capitalized on her opportunity to facilitate the Valkyries’ offense with a mix of straight-line drives, her signature floater, a soft hook shot in traffic, and a top-of-the-key 3-point bank shot, all delivered with growing confidence in the flow of the game.
The result was a Valkyries offense that looked in control, not reactive, an improvement for a group that has been stagnant and drought-prone at times when perimeter shots aren’t falling.
As Williams’ scoring touch comes into focus, so too does the clarity of what Golden State can look like in end-of-game scenarios with a new closer.
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