Valkyries star Gabby Williams counts possessions, keeps track of everything to lead late in games

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Late in games, Gabby Williams starts counting. She constantly computes math in her head, all while handling the pressure of being the one to regularly take big shots for the Golden State Valkyries.

Better Williams than coach Natalie Nakase, that’s for sure.

“What’s her obsession with math?” Nakase inquired when told about Williams’ process.

“I don’t do math. I do more like coverages and schemes and seeing people’s energy and more connectivity with our group. That’s all Gabby. I’m not that smart. I’m not doing math out there. I didn’t do math since the UCLA days.”

Whatever it is that Williams does, it’s working well during her first playoff run with the Valkyries after coming to the Bay Area for just this: a chance at a championship. Golden State leads the Atlanta Dream 1-0 in their best-of-seven WNBA Finals.

Even members of Golden State’s athletic training staff have noticed Williams making her mental notes down the stretch.

The veteran guard scored 26 points in a 68-64 Game 1 win Saturday, missing her initial four shots before scoring 16 of her 26 points in the second quarter. She was the only Valkyries player in double figures as Golden State shot 32.1% and 7 of 33 from 3-point range.

“Yeah, same thing, doing math,” Williams explained of her mindset. “One of our trainers, she was like, ‘In the fourth quarter, you always do this thing and I know you’re going to start taking over, you look at the clock.’ And I’m like: ‘Yeah, I’m counting. I’m counting possessions, I’m counting points, what do we need now, what’s the most timely time to go.’

“I think it’s just like the best way to kind of take the pressure off things, too, is just to break them down possession by possession.”

The Dream had been outstanding down the stretch during their first two series, both sweeps, to reach the franchise’s fourth finals. Yet Atlanta is still yet to win a finals game.

Coach Karl Smesko can’t wait for his team to find a way to bounce back Monday night. Atlanta shot 2 for 19 in the fourth quarter.

“I just think we need to maintain how we want to play for a whole four quarters. We had a couple dry spells where we just weren’t working together as well as you need to against this defense. They are not just going to give you easy shots,” he said. “So we are going to need to work together to create these advantages.”

Execution is especially challenging in the hostile environment that is Golden State’s deafening “Ballhalla” sellout home crowd — with rally towels waving and thunder sticks cracking all game long.

While Smesko was pleased with how the Dream handled the noise, he will challenge his players to communicate even better next time out.

“I thought the environment was great. I thought the crowd was great. They were loud. They were cheering at all the right times,” Smesko said. “But I think when we had a breakdown, it was something that we worked on and we just would have a miscommunication or something like that. … When we have an opportunity to finish a game, we’ve just got to do it.”

Nakase challenged her team’s loyal, violet-loving fans once more to bring all their energy again Monday.

“Great job but hey, level up, right? Like we’ve got to go Game 2, it has to be better. We’re going to ask more from our players. So I’d say, check for Game 1,” she said. “Let’s get a better Game 2. Rest and recover, Ballhalla. Careful what you drink tonight.”

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