Tiffany Hayes was the answer Natalie Nakase and the Golden State Valkyries desperately needed. Elevated into the starting five after a crushing 97-71 Game 3 blowout that had the Valkyries trailing 2-1 in the Finals, Hayes spearheaded a season-saving 67–62 road win in Game 4, posting a vital 13 points. Now with the series leveled at two games apiece, Hayes can’t wait to feed on the electric energy awaiting them back home at “Ballhalla” for Game 5.

“Get loud and get ready. Show em what the crowd really do,” said Hayes after the game.

When asked what changes were needed after the humbling 26-point loss in Game 3, Hayes was clear about a shift in her mentality.

“We just had to have more fight, more grit, get back to us. We still made a few mistakes, but at the end of the day we played hard, and we came out with a win,” Hayes said.

“[I was asked] just to give all I had, which is what I always do, but of course you gotta give a little more. So instead of 110, you gotta give 120. You know, we all fighting, battling something, but at the end of the day we’re here for each other, and we do it for each other, so I think we showed that today.”

Hayes accompanied her double-digit scoring effort with five rebounds, going 5 of 10 from the field, in 25 minutes of playing time.

For this win, the Valkyries relied on the identity that brought them here: defense. Converting key stops into transition points when they needed them most, Golden State survived an inefficient shooting night, hitting just 36% from the field, but at the same time suffocating Atlanta to an even colder 33%.

Angel Reese had dominated the Finals conversation through the first three games, staking a commanding claim on Finals MVP after a 21-point outing in Game 3. Golden State solved that puzzle in Game 4, forcing Reese into uncomfortable finishes.

Between the defensive pressure and rare misses on routine chip-shots, Reese was neutralized, finishing 2-of-12 for a quiet eight points while committing six turnovers. Atlanta as a team gave away a staggering 18 turnovers on the night, and the Valkyries happily took 16 points from them.

Reese admitted after the game that she may not have been at the level she displayed in the last three games.

“I think I rushed a lot on my shots,” Reese said. “I didn’t take my time and finish around the basket like I’d been doing the last three games.”

For Gabby Williams and Co., it seems that a tweak in their mentality and playing style did the job.

Gabby Williams Credits Game 4 Win To Improved Physicality

It wasn’t that the Valkyries lost Game 3. It was the way they lost that stung. Golden State got outmaneuvered in the paint, committed too many errors, and had no answers as Angel Reese ran riot.

The Valkyries could only convert 34.8% of their shots from the field and gave up 15 turnovers. Gabby Williams was the leading scorer on the team, with 15 points, while the rest of the team struggled to get on the board.

So after the loss, Williams was clear that something needed changing in the Valkyries’ approach, and it showed in the way that she and her team played in Game 4.

“Yeah, as far as taking care of the ball, I think we stopped letting the kind of officiating, like, dictate the game. I think last game we were very soft; like we were expecting a foul call, we were expecting this, but this is the finals. It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be tough, so we have to woman up,” said Williams in the post-game press conference.

“And I think we just decided to play through that contact versus, you know, wanting it to be easy.”

A noticeable bump in interior physicality from Golden State threw Atlanta off balance, triggering repeated face-offs between Reese, Kiah Stokes, and Hayes.

The relentless bumps and shoves seemed to unseat Reese mentally, directly impacting her rough night on the stat sheet, as she finished with just eight points. Stokes registered 3 or more blocks for the fourth consecutive game, setting a WNBA Finals record with 14 blocks so far in this series.

With Game 5 back in the Chase Center, the Valkyries will look to take the commanding lead in the series and take a major step towards their first-ever WNBA title.