In short:
Australia's Izzy Borlase made a solid contribution as her Atlanta Dream team hit the front in the WNBA Finals.
Borlase scored 12 points with five rebounds, while star Angel Reese had 21 points and 12 rebounds, as the Dream beat Golden State Valkyries 97-71 to lead the series 2-1.
What's next?
Game 4 of the best-of-seven WNBA Finals will be played in Atlanta on Sunday (AEDT).
Angel Reese had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Atlanta Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 97-71 at home on Wednesday night and take a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals.
Rhyne Howard added 16 points, and Naz Hillmon had 15 for the Dream, who also host Game 4 on Sunday (AEDT).
Australian guard Izzy Borlase played a solid role for the Dream. She was on-court for 26 minutes, scoring 12 points including one three-pointer, plus five rebounds, two assists and a block.
Another Australian Opals star, Miela Sowah, sat on the bench for the Valkyries and will remain there throughout the finals due to her restricted status as a development player.
The Dream highlighted one of Borlase's drives to the basket on its social media.
It was the second straight strong game for Reese, who had 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2, which the Dream also won for its first-ever victory in the Finals. She now has a double-double in each game of the Finals.
"It feels good when you're in the finals. It's a long season, and you play against everybody and go through and push through, but when you can do it at the highest level, this is what you live for, this is what the off-season is for," Reese said.
"I put the work in for this moment, and I'm just happy I could lead the team to a win. We're feeling good going into Saturday."
With the game tied at 49 in the third quarter, Atlanta scored eight straight, including four by Reese. Golden State got within 59-55 on Tiffany Hayes's lay-up, but could get no closer as Atlanta closed the quarter, scoring 12 of the final 14 points.
With Atlanta up 17 in the fourth quarter, Jordin Canada overthrew Reese on the break, but she saved the ball by throwing it over her head underneath the basket to Howard, who got fouled.
Golden State could never recover. Gabby Williams scored 15 points, and Hayes added 14 for the Valkyries.
"Protect home court," Howard said of the team's focus. "Giving our fans a show. We fought for this arena so we had to protect it. It's big. We went and stole one, but we can't let them come in and do the same thing."
The game was moved from the Dream's home Gateway Center Arena to the NBA's Atlanta Hawks home arena. Wednesday night's game was sold out, with more than 17,000 fans attending, as is Game 4 on Saturday at the same venue.
The game got off to a slow start as Atlanta led 9-1 after the first five minutes. Golden State missed its first eight shots before Aminata Gueye scored the first basket with 4:39 left.
They got within 13-10 before Naz Hillmon hit consecutive 3-pointers and then Reese hit one. The Dream led 23-15 after the opening quarter.
Atlanta built its lead to 37-26 midway through the period. Golden State was able to hang around and only trailed 46-40 at the break as the teams combined to shoot 15-for-31 (48 per cent) from behind the arc.
That was more completed 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes than in either Game 1 or Game 2.
Game 1 and 2 had huge ratings, with the opener on NBC averaging 2.1 million, the most ever for a first game of the Finals. Game 2, which was broadcast on USA Network, averaged 1.33 million viewers.
AP/ABC
