Kiah Stokes and Veronica Burton scored 13 points apiece and the Golden State Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Monday to take a 3-2 series lead.
Golden State can clinch the first title in franchise history as soon as Thursday's Game 6 in Atlanta, which will be a rare day game. Tip time for the potential championship-clinching contest was moved to 12:30 p.m. ET in order for the Dream to play at State Farm Arena.
Stokes tallied eight rebounds and three blocks in the victory, marking her sixth consecutive game with at least three rejections. She matched Lisa Leslie (2003) for the longest such streak in a single postseason. Burton added four blocks of her own to go with eight boards and three assists.
The Valkyries punished the Dream on turnovers, scoring 21 points off Atlanta's 17 giveaways. All five Dream starters had at least two turnovers.
Rhyne Howard led Atlanta with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting.
