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A first-time WNBA champion awaits as the Valkyries and Dream open the Finals · Best of: Features

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  A first time WNBA champion awaits as the Valkyries and Dream open
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  the finals. Written by Doug Feinberg This article is being read by
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  an automated voice generated by Everlett. The WNBA will crown a first
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  time champion with the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream playing
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  for the title in the best of seven series that start Saturday.
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  Golden State is looking to become the fastest expansion teams in league
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  history to win a championship, as the Valkyries are only in their
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  second year. Atlanta reached the finals for the first time since twenty
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  thirteen, and after losing in its previous three appearances in the championship
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  round. Will be trying for their first as well. Offense will be
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  at a premium as the series features two of the best defensive
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  teams in the league, led by coaches Carl Smesko and Natalie Nekasi.
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  Finding the finals For the first time in a long time, ESPN
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  won't be broadcasting the WNBA Finals. As part of the new media
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  rights deal, NBC and USA Sports have The rights to the championship
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  round. The two networks will be splitting it with NBC showing Game
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  1 on Saturday and Game 4 a week later. USA Network will
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  have Game 2 and 3 as well as five, six, and seven
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  if the are necessary. Anel Sarah Kustock will be doing double duty
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  working for both networks. Hot Ticket. The WNBA Finals
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  are a hot ticket with Golden State, having the highest attendance during
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  the regular season, averaging over 18,000 fans. The get-in price for Game
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  1 was just over 200 according to the website Game Time. Last
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  year, games 1 of the finals between Phoenix and Las Vegas had
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  a get-in price of 48 the day before the game. Atlanta was
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  able to secure State Farm arena, for Game three and for after
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  the WNBA, and NBA came together to resolve conflicts at that arena.
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  Had that not happened, the team would have had to most likely
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  play at Gateway Center Arena, its usual home that seats three thousand
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  five hundred. Now they'll play at the seventeen thousand seat venue that
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  is the home of the Atlanta Hawks. As of now tickets for
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  the two games in Atlanta are under one hundred dollars, but that
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  could change closer to game time. The Dream didn't open the Upper
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  Bowl of State Farm for their first three playoff games in the
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  arena, but will do so for the finals. Atlanta's Angel
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  Reese has won at every level she's played at so far besides
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  the WNBA. She won a NCAA championship while she played at LSU
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  and was a member of the USA basketball team that won the
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  gold medal at the Women's FIBA World Cup this past September. Anywhere
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  I go, I am looking to win, she said. I have won
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  at every level I have been at. Coming into any situation I
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  have a winning mentality, no matter what it looks like or what
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  it takes. Reese has upped her play in the postseason, averaging 18.0
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  points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 1.6 steals in the five games.
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  She's also shooting 38.5 from behind the three-point line. See the AP's
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  full WNBA coverage here.