UCONN Professional Athletes

When the WNBA Finals needed a hero, UConn sent an unlikely one. Kiah Stokes — a center who averaged 4.3 points per game in the playoffs — has become the defining figure of the Golden State Valkyries' championship run, and the Chase Center crowd made sure she knew it.

After Golden State's 64-55 Game 5 win over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday, Stokes was pulled onto the court for a post-game interview. The crowd drowned her out entirely — with MVP chants. It's hard to argue with them.

The Record

Stokes recorded three blocks in Game 5 to tie Lisa Leslie's WNBA record for most consecutive postseason games with 3+ blocks. Six straight. That's not a coincidence — that's a masterclass. She's made the paint a no-fly zone, held Angel Reese to just eight points in the game, and quietly turned the Valkyries' defense into something approaching impenetrable. Her teammates' nine combined steals in Game 5 are no accident either; when Stokes anchors the paint, chaos radiates outward.

The box score told its own story: 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, and a +6 plus/minus. The points — including three 3-pointers on the night — were gravy. The damage Stokes does that never shows up in a stat line is the real product.

Beyond the Dirty Work

What makes Stokes's emergence so striking is context. She came to Golden State after four consecutive WNBA Finals appearances with the Las Vegas Aces, where she won three titles as a key rotation player. She has been here before — but never like this. Never as the fulcrum. Never drawing MVP chants.

With the Valkyries now holding a 3-2 series lead and one win from a championship, Stokes has leaned into the moment rather than away from it. After Game 5, she and teammate Veronica Burton made a public ask of the Bay Area fanbase: call in sick for Game 6. The city, it seems, is listening.

The Supporting Cast

Stokes wasn't alone in Game 5. Fellow UConn alum Tiffany Hayes contributed 12 points, two steals, and a +5 in the win, while Gabby Williams added nine points, six rebounds, and three steals. Kaitlyn Chen didn't log counting stats but finished +2 on the night. Four Huskies on the floor. One win from a ring.

Then came Game 6 on Thursday — and a reality check. The Dream pushed back with a 69-80 road win to force a decisive Game 7. Williams led Golden State with 26 points and three steals, but finished -15. Hayes chipped in 15 points and two steals. Stokes managed seven rebounds and a steal but was -25 in a night the Valkyries couldn't find their footing.

What's Next

The series heads to a winner-take-all Game 7. The Valkyries — in only their second WNBA season — still have a chance to do something remarkable. And Stokes, the nonchalant UConn center who ties postseason records and shrugs, will be right at the center of it.

Four UConn alumnae are at the center of the WNBA's biggest stage right now — and they're helping rewrite the record books while doing it.

The Golden State Valkyries, stacked with Huskies, evened the WNBA Finals against the Atlanta Dream at 2-2 with a 67-62 Game 4 win on Saturday, setting up a pivotal Game 5 in a series that has been defined as much by defense as by drama.

Kiah Stokes: History in Blocks

The story of the week belongs to Stokes. The center has been an immovable force in the paint throughout the Finals, and her Game 4 performance — 16 rebounds and 3 blocks in the win — pushed her past Brittney Griner and Sylvia Fowles for the WNBA Finals all-time blocks record. That's not a footnote; that's a legacy line. Stokes has been the Valkyries' primary answer to Atlanta Dream center Angel Reese, and the matchup has defined the series. Per Defector's game coverage, when Stokes is on the floor, Reese has struggled to get clean looks; when she's off it, Atlanta feasts. The coaching staff's rotation decisions around Stokes may well determine who hoists the trophy.

Gabby Williams: The Valkyries' Star

Williams has been Golden State's most dynamic offensive player across the Finals. She dropped 26 points in a gutty Game 1 win — a performance that drew national attention and drove a record 2.1 million viewers for Game 1 on NBC and Peacock, the most-watched WNBA Finals opener in league history. She followed with a resilient Game 4, pouring in 17 points with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in Saturday's series-leveling win. In between, she weathered a rough Game 2 loss and delivered an impassioned postgame speech after a lopsided Game 3 defeat. Whatever the Valkyries needed from Williams emotionally and competitively this week, she provided it.

Tiffany Hayes and Kaitlyn Chen: The Supporting Cast

Hayes contributed 13 points and 5 rebounds in Game 4, continuing her role as a veteran stabilizer in the Valkyries' rotation. She made headlines earlier in the series for her pregame outfit before Game 2 — a simple T-shirt carrying a pointed message that drew attention during the WNBA Finals' orange-carpet spotlight. Chen logged a positive plus-minus (+2) off the bench in Game 4, a small but meaningful contribution in a 5-point game.

The Bigger Picture

The UConn pipeline to Golden State has become one of the feel-good storylines of this WNBA postseason. Heavy Sports noted the "UConn Core" explicitly when covering the Valkyries' record TV ratings, a nod to just how central Huskies alumnae are to this franchise's identity in just its second year of existence. With the series now tied and three games remaining, Williams, Stokes, Hayes, and Chen are four wins away from a championship — and UConn fans have every reason to be locked in.

The biggest stage in women's basketball belongs, right now, to a UConn Husky.

Gabby Williams put together one of the most complete performances of the 2026 WNBA Finals opener on Saturday, pouring in a game-high 26 points — including 16 in a dominant second quarter — to lift the Golden State Valkyries past the Atlanta Dream 68-64 in Game 1. When the moment was largest, Williams was at her sharpest: she knocked down two free throws to put Golden State ahead 65-64 and added another pair with 4.1 seconds remaining to seal the win. The Valkyries now hold a 1-0 series lead.

It was the kind of performance Williams has been building toward all season — and one she might argue the national media has been slow to recognize. Earlier in the week, the forward called out the media's lack of respect, noting her consistent excellence has too often been an afterthought. Game 1 made that argument hard to dispute.

Defense to Match the Offense

Williams didn't just light up the scoreboard this week. On Thursday, the league announced she had earned a spot on the 2026 WNBA All-Defensive First Team — her second straight selection at that level. It's a rare double: Williams is simultaneously one of the most dangerous offensive players in this Finals and one of the most decorated defenders in the entire league.

She isn't the only Husky being recognized for her defensive work. Valkyries center Kiah Stokes — a UConn alum anchoring Golden State's interior — was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team alongside guard Veronica Burton. The Valkyries were the league's top defensive unit this season, and the All-Defensive hardware reflects just how much UConn DNA runs through that identity. With Williams and Stokes in the frontcourt together, Golden State has a defensive backbone that the Dream will need to solve across what promises to be a hard-fought series.

A Fellow Husky Makes the All-Rookie List

Away from the Finals, there was a quieter milestone for the UConn pipeline. Azzi Fudd, in her first WNBA season with the Dallas Wings, was named to the 2026 WNBA All-Rookie Team alongside Minnesota's Olivia Miles and LSU's Flau'jae Johnson. Fudd's rookie campaign adds to an already crowded week of UConn news, a reminder that the Huskies aren't just producing veterans — they're still sending first-year contributors directly into the league's upper tier.

The Bigger Picture

With Williams as the unquestioned centerpiece of a WNBA Finals, UConn fans have every reason to be locked in on Oakland. The Valkyries earned their way here — knocking out the Dallas Wings (home of fellow Huskies Paige Bueckers and Lou Lopez Senechal) in the semifinals — and Williams has been the engine throughout the playoff run.

Game 2 is next. If Game 1 is any indication, Williams isn't done making her case.

The WNBA's final weekend before the Finals was written largely by UConn alumnae — one closing the book on a painful chapter, the other quietly authoring a historic one.

Breanna Stewart's First Sweep — and a Controversy to Match

It started with a historic night and ended with a blunt reckoning. In Game 2 of the Liberty-Dream semifinal series on Wednesday, Breanna Stewart put up 35 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in a performance that made WNBA history — and still wasn't enough. New York lost 101-98 in overtime, and Stewart left the court furious, alleging that referees incorrectly told the Liberty they had no reset timeout remaining in the final seconds, leaving the team to run a hopeless last possession without the ability to advance the ball to half court. The Liberty filed a formal complaint with the league. The pool report that followed only deepened the confusion.

Then came Game 3 on Friday. Stewart scored 26 points with 6 assists and 4 rebounds in an 85-83 loss at Barclays Center, completing a stunning sweep that marked the first time in her career she had been eliminated without winning a single postseason series game. Postgame, she was characteristically direct: the Liberty, she said, simply were not ready for 2026. Over the three-game series, Stewart averaged 26.7 points while doing everything short of winning — a sequence that will define the Liberty's offseason as much as any roster move.

Kiah Stokes and the Valkyries' Quiet Coronation

While Stewart's exit dominated headlines, Kiah Stokes was doing the unglamorous, essential work that has Golden State on the verge of a first-ever Finals berth. The UConn center posted a monster Game 1 against Las Vegas on Sunday — 14 rebounds and 4 blocks in a 71-60 Valkyries win — before anchoring Golden State's frontcourt through a tense Game 2 (7 rebounds, 1 block in an 83-81 win) and a decisive Game 3 closeout on Saturday (11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, +18). The Valkyries swept the Aces to reach the Finals.

Stokes won't be the name on the MVP ballot — teammate Gabby Williams, another UConn alumna, is drawing that attention after averaging 20.3 points across the series, with Sports Illustrated noting her Finals MVP odds have edged ahead of A'ja Wilson. But Stokes' 14-rebound, 4-block opener and her steady physicality throughout were the kind of contributions that make those offensive stars possible. The Sporting News called her the Valkyries' unsung hero as the Finals approached.

Also contributing off the Golden State bench: Tiffany Hayes scored 11 points with 4 assists, 2 steals, and a +20 in the closeout, while Kaitlyn Chen chipped in 6 points and a +4.

The Bigger Picture

UConn's playoff week told two very different stories. Stewart exits carrying the weight of a dynasty that stalled — her individual brilliance undeniable but her team's ceiling suddenly unclear. In the Bay, Stokes and the Valkyries' UConn contingent are playing for something the franchise has never touched. One alumna's run is over; another's biggest moment is still ahead.