Halloween will forever carry a special meaning for Valkyries star Gabby Williams.

Williams—whose favorite holiday happens to fall on Oct. 31, earning her the nickname Spooky G—didn’t get scared of the bright lights in Game 7 of the 2026 WNBA Finals, putting up a team-high 30 points that tied the most points in a winner-take-all Finals game in league history. The French forward lifted Golden State to a 68–63 victory at home to clinch its first WNBA title in just the franchise’s second year of existence. And Williams wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I wasn’t going to lose on Halloween,” Williams joked after she won Finals MVP. “Honestly, everyone here, not just the players but the staff, the community, the city, y’all have been pouring into me all season. ... It’s easy when the energy is just good and positive, it was so easy to come to work every single day, and that’s what I came for.”

Williams started to take over in the third quarter of Game 7, during which she had a hot hand from beyond the arc and sank three straight threes that injected life into a mucky and sluggish Valkyries offense. Golden State proceeded to funnel its attack through Williams for the rest of the game, with the former Storm star scoring 28 of her 30 points in the second half, good for the most in any half of a postseason game in WNBA history. Williams also made her presence felt on the other side of the court, getting a key fourth-quarter block on Dream guard Jordin Canada that was initially called a foul but reversed after Golden State’s successful challenge.

“Man, I don’t know. I love moments like this,” Williams said when asked about her dominant end-to-end outing in her postgame interview. “Nat [Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase] told me to be patient in the first half. It was hard but I listened to her, and she was right.”

“All it took was good people,” continued Williams, who chose to return to the area where she played youth ball when she signed with the Valkyries this past offseason. “All we heard last year, ‘We don’t have no stars, we don’t have no talent. Yeah, right. We got good people. We got winners. We got people who are willing to put their bodies on the floor to win a game. ... We just built a beautiful culture here.”

Balhalla, or “Boohalla” as Valks fans affectionately dubbed their home arena on Halloween night, came alive to cheer on Williams and the rest of a defensively stout Valks team that found its groove—and confidence—down the stretch. Golden State guards Tiffany Hayes and Veronica Burton put up 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Kiah Stokes led all players with 13 rebounds.

The Valks shot 38% from the field, one of their best shooting percentages this Finals series, and got the job done on defense, too, limiting Dream star Angel Reese to another single-digit point total. Their historic championship run marks the fastest any expansion team has won a WNBA title, and is also the quickest for an expansion team in any of the four major American pro leagues (beating the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup win in Year 4). Over in the MLS, the Chicago Fire won the MLS Cup in their inaugural season.

From expansion to championship. From other teams’ role players to WNBA title-winners. The No. 2-seed Valkyries may not have been the most high-profile squad entering the postseason—they notably lacked a single player selected to this year’s All-WNBA team. But the motto of the Golden State Warriors aptly applies here: strength in numbers.

“It’s the love. We have unconditional love that’s f---ing unbreakable,” Natalie Nakase, who has played a pivotal role in building and fostering the Valkyries’ team culture, said. “This is for all the people that have been underrated, misunderstood, this is for all y’all. ‘Cause this is proof that if you put all your heart and all your soul, you f---ing win championships!”

Two years ago, Warriors and Valks owner Joe Lacob asked Nakase to bring home a championship in five seasons. You could say she, Gabby Williams and the rest of Golden State’s never-say-die squad over-delivered.