The fastest expansion title in major North American sports history — and it took a Halloween-night classic to get there.

The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions, beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Saturday night in the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history. The second-year franchise became the fastest expansion team in the NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB or NFL to win a title — and the first team in league history to win a championship without a single All-WNBA player on the roster.

The story of the night was Gabby Williams, and it wasn’t close. The guard scored 30 points — 28 of them in the second half, a WNBA record for points in a Finals half — including 15 straight points spanning the third and fourth quarters. She scored her team’s final 11 points of the third quarter and outscored the Dream 15-14 by herself in the frame, then buried a deep 31-foot three with 2:18 left to seal it.

The Valkyries trailed 30-24 at halftime. Williams wouldn’t let it end that way.

“Gabby is our closer,” coach Natalie Nakase said afterward. “She stayed patient, she stayed with it. Closing with 30!”

Williams took home Finals MVP honors — the first star turn of her career on the league’s biggest stage. For the Dream, Jordin Canada scored 18, Allisha Gray had 16, and Angel Reese put up 8 points and 12 rebounds in the franchise’s fourth failed title attempt.

Three years ago, Valkyries owner Joe Lacob guaranteed a championship within the franchise’s first five years. It took two. A violet-clad sellout crowd of 18,000 watched confetti fall at Chase Center.

Sources: ESPN, CNN, USA Today.

Photo: Zafer, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons