Kiah Stokes took five shots on Saturday. She changed far more than five possessions.
The Golden State Valkyries center finished with four points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots in a 67-62 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals at State Farm Arena. The victory tied the best-of-seven series 2-2 and sends it back to San Francisco for Game 5 on Monday.
The three blocks gave Stokes 14 in the series, a Finals record. Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles had shared the old mark of 12, according to The Associated Press. The Valkyries' own recap credited her with four blocks on Saturday; the official box score and the AP both list three, the figure that matches her series total.
Answering Reese
Angel Reese had owned the paint in Atlanta's two wins, putting up 25.5 points and 14 rebounds per game, according to the AP. On Saturday she scored eight points, missed 10 of 12 shots and went scoreless in the first quarter. Several of the misses came on fourth-quarter layups.
The Dream shot 33.3% for the game and made 4 of 23 from 3-point range. Golden State forced 18 turnovers and committed nine after giving the ball away more than 17 times in each of the first three games.
"I think we were really aggressive in our coverage," coach Natalie Nakase said in the team's postgame coverage.
Second chances
Stokes' work on the other end mattered as much. Eight of her 16 rebounds came on the offensive glass, more than half of Golden State's 13, and the Valkyries finished with 38 points in the paint to Atlanta's 28. The extra possessions helped a team that shot 36% and made only 4 of 25 3-pointers build a 16-point halftime lead.
The Dream pulled within 61-55 halfway through the final quarter, then within 66-62 when Rhyne Howard completed a three-point play with 28 seconds left. Veronica Burton made a free throw a second later, and the Dream missed their last two 3-point attempts.
Nakase said the defensive run was no surprise. "I think it's always been in her," she said, per the Valkyries. "She leads by example for our team."
