Kenyan basketball fans are set for a sleepless night as rookie centre Madina Okot and the Atlanta Dream head into a winner-takes-all Game 7 of the WNBA Finals against the Golden State Valkyries, with a historic first championship for a Kenyan player on the line.

The decisive game is scheduled for Saturday evening at the Chase Center in San Francisco, with tip-off at 8pm Eastern Time, which is 3am East African Time on Sunday, November 1.

Dream fight back to force decider

Atlanta kept their title hopes alive on Thursday with an 80-69 victory over Golden State in front of a sell-out crowd at State Farm Arena, levelling the best-of-seven series at 3-3.

The Dream took control early, opening the game with a 13-0 run and stretching their advantage to 46-26 by half-time. They carried a 16-point cushion into the final quarter and held on comfortably.

  • Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 23 points, including five three-pointers
  • Rhyne Howard added 21 points
  • Angel Reese posted a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds

The series has swung back and forth. Golden State took Game 1 68-64, Atlanta replied by winning Games 2 and 3, before the Valkyries won Games 4 and 5 to move within one win of the trophy. Atlanta's Game 6 response has now sent the Finals the distance.

"We know the job is not done," Dream coach Karl Smesko said after the win, according to reports.

From Mumias to the big stage

Okot, a 6ft 6in centre from Mumias in Kakamega County, has played limited minutes in the Finals but made her mark in Game 3, recording three points, an assist and a block as Atlanta took a 2-1 series lead. She is reported to be the only first-round pick from the 2026 draft to feature in this year's Finals.

Her journey to the WNBA has been anything but straightforward. She began in volleyball before switching to basketball around 2020, and she caught the eye of American college scouts while representing Kenya in 3x3 basketball at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. She was reportedly turned down for a US visa four times before finally making the move.

She played college basketball at Mississippi State before transferring to South Carolina, where she averaged 12.8 points and 10.6 rebounds in the 2025-26 season and helped the Gamecocks reach the NCAA championship final.

Atlanta picked her 13th overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft, the highest a Kenyan has ever been selected. In her first regular season she averaged 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in just over nine minutes a game.

A nation watching

Okot's rise has drawn attention at the highest levels in Kenya. President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto met her courtside when the Dream played the New York Liberty in Brooklyn in September.

Should Atlanta win tonight, Okot will become the first Kenyan to win a WNBA championship, a landmark moment for a sport that has long lived in the shadow of athletics and football at home.

Photos: K24 Digital; Citizen Digital. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.