Angel Reese Makes WNBA Finals History in Dream's Statement Win vs Valkyries

The Atlanta Dream have tied the WNBA Finals at one game apiece after their impressive 79-65 road win against the Golden State Valkyries on Monday night.

And Dream star forward Angel Reese led her team to victory. She finished with a dominant 30 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the field (and 9-for-11 from the free-throw line) and also added 16 rebounds (four of which were offensive), two steals, and three assists in 34 minutes played.

In doing so, Reese became the youngest player in WNBA Finals history to produce a 20-point double-double, according to Underdog WNBA.

Reese did so at 24 years, 166 days old. Before that, the record was held by Cappie Pondexter, who did so at 24 years, 252 days with the Phoenix Mercury back in 2007.

That wasn't the only history Reese made on Monday night. She also became the third player in WNBA Finals history to produce a 30-point, 15-rebound game, per Underdog WNBA. The other two are New York Liberty superstars Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones.

Angel Reese, Dream Proved They Can Succeed Against Valkyries

This was a massive win for Atlanta, and not just because it ties the WNBA Finals at 1-1 before the series heads to Atlanta for Game 3.

Reese was held scoreless in the second half against Golden State in Game 1. This collapse was a reason why the Dream lost their lead down the stretch and ultimately lost the game.

Angel clearly felt like she needed to produce a bounce-back performance, and that's exactly what she did with this historic Game 2 outing.

And it wasn't just Reese individually who needed to prove something against Golden State. The Dream had been 0-4 against the Valkyries this season heading into Game 2, with the Valkyries being particularly dominant on their home court (which is a common theme for them).

But Atlanta has now proven it can secure a win at Chase Center. The Dream technically has three home games still to play in this series, which technically means they wouldn't need to win at Chase Center again in order to win the WNBA Finals.

This is why them having done so once, and therefore stealing home-court advantage, was crucial. Plus, there's a good chance that Golden State will be able to take at least one game in Atlanta, which could flip home-court advantage back in their favor.

Yet, Atlanta no longer needs to wonder whether they can beat the Valkyries in San Francisco.