Throughout the regular season and the early rounds of the playoffs, Natalie Nakase utilized Tiffany Hayes as an explosive, high-energy spark plug off the bench. But after the Valkyries dropped Games 2 and 3 to fall into a 2-1 series deficit, Nakase made a bold tactical adjustment, elevating the 14-year veteran to the starting five.
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And yes, the 14-year veteran has embraced the opportunity, delivering back-to-back impactful performances in Games 4 and 5 to help the Valkyries secure consecutive wins against an Angel Reese-led Atlanta Dream team. Golden State now holds a 3-2 series lead and is just one win away from their first WNBA championship. For Angel Reese’s former coach and WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon, Hayes is the kind of veteran presence that changes the entire dynamic of this Valkyries team, and her value goes far beyond what any box score can fully capture.
“You can never forget who Tiffany Hayes is,” Weatherspoon said in an interview on NBA TV. “Tiffany Hayes is a bucket. She is a bucket. She plays with a tremendous amount of energy. And she defends, and she gives them that dog in the fight. She gives them the dog in the fight, and she’s that veteran. She’s been there. She knows what it takes. She knows what it’s like to play in this type of atmosphere. She’s dangerous. It makes this team tremendously dangerous.”
And for Weatherspoon, the manner in which Hayes responded to being elevated into the starting lineup says as much about her character as her talent.
“The amazing part that most people don’t even talk about is her mindset, how it shifted from coming off the bench to starting. It didn’t matter to her whether she was starting or whether she wasn’t starting. It was a matter of her name being called and doing what she had to do to help this team, whether that was offensively or defensively.”
In Game 4, Hayes scored all 13 of her points in the second half, seven of them coming in a critical fourth quarter as the Valkyries worked to hold off a fierce Atlanta comeback. She also shot 5-of-10 from the field and went a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line, adding five rebounds in a gritty 67-62 road victory.
But beyond the numbers, she was everywhere defensively, with her aggressive perimeter play helping force Atlanta guard Allisha Gray into severe foul trouble and contributing to limiting an Angel Reese who had delivered record-setting performances in Games 2 and 3.
In Game 5, Hayes was equally decisive. She recorded 12 points, converting four of her six two-point attempts and going a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, while adding three offensive rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Most impressively, she handled heavy offensive responsibilities across 30-plus minutes without committing a single turnover. The Valkyries won 64-55, and Hayes was central to how they did it. They are now one victory away from its first-ever WNBA championship.
“One More to Go”: Tiffany Hayes Sends Bold Message as She Nears Career-Defining Milestone After 14 Years
The Golden State Valkyries are now just one win away from making history. And that is precisely the message Hayes wanted to send after Game 5.
“We got one more to go. Let’s get it,” she said after the victory.
Winning the WNBA championship will be a franchise-defining moment for the Valkyries and a historic one for the league as a whole. Reaching the Finals in just their second year of existence already set a league record. Winning the title would make them the fastest expansion team to win a championship in WNBA history, completely rewriting the historical baseline.
For context, it took their current opponents, the Atlanta Dream, three full seasons just to reach their first Finals after joining the league in 2008.
For Tiffany Hayes personally, a victory would represent something even more profound. It would cap a 14-year professional career with the championship ring she has been chasing since 2012.
The closest she has come to that moment was early in her career in 2013, when she reached the WNBA Finals with the Atlanta Dream, only to be swept by the Minnesota Lynx. She also reached the semifinals with the Las Vegas Aces in 2024 before the team fell short of the final round. For 14 years, the ring has remained just out of reach.
Now, Hayes is just one win away from finally achieving that career-defining milestone. The Valkyries will have the opportunity to close out the series in Game 6 of the WNBA Finals, which will tip off on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time (9:30 a.m. Pacific Time). History is waiting. And Tiffany Hayes, after 14 years of chasing it, has never been closer.