SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Allisha Gray provided a lift for the Atlanta Dream with 19 points in her return to the lineup after missing two games with an injured finger on her shooting hand.
It wasn't enough, as Gray and the Dream struggled in the fourth quarter and fell to the Golden State Valkyries 68-64 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday.
Gray scored the first basket of the game on a driving layup and showed no ill-effects of the finger being hurt.
“I felt good playing out there. My finger felt good, was able to get through the physicality,” Gray said.
She missed all seven of her shots in the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left that would have given the Dream the lead. Gray finished 5 for 19 from the field, including missing seven of her eight 3-point attempts.
Gray was the team's top scorer in the regular season, averaging 19 points. She injured her left hand in the best-of-five semifinals series opener against New York. She briefly returned in that game after going to the locker room, but went down a second time after diving for a loose ball and did not return. She didn't play in the final two games of Atlanta's sweep of the Liberty.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday night back at Chase Center.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (15) drives to the basket against Golden State Valkyries guard-forward Kaila Charles (6) during the second half of Game 1 of the WNBA basketball finals, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (15) loses the ball while driving to the basket against Golden State Valkyries forward Laeticia Amihere (3) during the second half of Game 1 of the WNBA basketball finals, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sebastian Fundora kept his pursuit of an undisputed championship on track with a second to spare.
Fundora stopped Ermal Hadribeaj with a left hand at 2:59 of the 12th round Saturday night at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to retain his WBC super welterweight title.
Fundora (25-1-1, 17 KOs) had his fourth successful title defense and handed Hadribeaj (23-1-1) his first professional loss.
“It was an interesting fight,” Fundora said. “I had to go back and fight on the inside and show everyone again that I can still do that. It was dramatic to knock him out at the last second. But we’ll go back to the gym and fix some things.”
Fundora entered the bout looking toward a chance to unify the 154-pound division, but first had to get past a stubborn mandatory challenger.
Hadribeaj attacked the body early, crouching beneath Fundora’s punches and landing looping shots over the top. Fundora caught him in the second round, and Hadribeaj increasingly turned to holding to disrupt the champion’s offense.
Hadribeaj lost points for holding in the third and 11th rounds. Fundora found room for uppercuts inside and applied pressure through the middle rounds before delivering the decisive left in the final second.
“I told the ref in the fourth round that I was hurting him,” Fundora said. “I kept landing body shots and was looking for that special shot to get him out of there.
“I was hitting him in the rib cage the whole time with the left hand and when I went up the middle, I heard the noise that he made. So I just kept touching that and knew it would break him.”
Fundora, 28, has won five straight since Brian Mendoza knocked him out in April 2023. The 6-foot-5 southpaw from Coachella, California, captured the WBC and WBO titles against Tim Tszyu in March 2024, then stopped Chordale Booker, Tszyu and Keith Thurman in successive defenses.
“I want to go for undisputed in this division,” Fundora said. “We’ll break either Jaron Ennis or Josh Kelly down. Just like the last guy and the guy before that. We’ll keep breaking them down.”
Hadribeaj, an Albanian fighter based in Miami, earned his title opportunity with a victory over previously unbeaten Bakary Samake earlier this year.
In the co-main event, Armando Resendiz (17-3) outlasted Australia’s Koen Mazoudier (16-5-1) by unanimous decision in a 10-round super middleweight bout. The judges scored it 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93.
Resendiz landed punishing left hands through the middle rounds, but Mazoudier kept trading inside and rallied late. Resendiz finished strongly, sending Mazoudier stumbling backward in the final minute.
“We pulled this off because we had great preparation,” Resendiz said. “This was the kind of fight that I expected. I had to change my game plan and box and move a little bit because this was a very tough fight.”
Marco Romero (16-0, 14 KOs) stopped Matias Ferreira (8-4) with a crushing right hand at 1:54 of the first round in their scheduled eight-round super middleweight bout.
“He was too slow,” Romero said. “His speed and experience didn’t matter.”
Jaime Osuna (12-0) remained unbeaten with a majority decision over Cristian Cangelosi (13-1-1) in an eight-round middleweight bout.
“It was a fight that took everything I had from beginning to end,” Osuna said.
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
Marco Romero, right, fights Matias Ferreira during a super middleweight boxing match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Koen Mazoudier, left, takes a punch from Armando Resendiz during a super middleweight boxing match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Sebastian Fundora, right, takes a punch from Ermal Hadribeaj during a super welterweight championship boxing match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Sebastian Fundora, left, fights Ermal Hadribeaj during a super welterweight championship boxing match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Sebastian Fundora, center rear, celebrates after knocking out Ermal Hadribeaj during a super welterweight championship boxing match Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
