Angel Reese's first postseason ended just short of a championship.
Reese had eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, but Atlanta fell to Golden State 68-63 in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday night.
“I'm really proud of the year I had," Reese said. “Done a lot of great things this year and wouldn’t have been able to do it without this group. To come all the way to the Finals with this group says a lot. Not a lot of people have this opportunity to do it. I’d do it all over again with this group.”
History seemed to be on Reese and the Dream's side. No team that led at the end of the first half had lost a game in this WNBA Finals series in the first six games. Atlanta held a six-point advantage at the break.
Also this season, Atlanta had gone 16-0 when Reese hit a 3-pointer. She made one early in the second quarter to give her five points in the game. She went silent offensively after that, only scoring three points in the final 29 minutes of the game.
Gabby Williams made sure that both streaks would end, scoring 28 of her 30 points in the second half to lead Golden State to its first championship and earn MVP honors.
Reese, who came to the Dream this past offseason in a trade, had been the key to Atlanta's success during the Finals. When she was playing well offensively in the championship series, Atlanta didn't lose. She averaged 22 points, 14 rebounds and four assists in the three victories.
In the losses those numbers dropped to 9.3 points, 12 rebounds and 2.3 assists. She was just 12 for 38 from the field in those defeats. Rebounding has been a constant for her. She set the record with 90 rebounds in the WNBA Finals. It just wasn’t enough.
Reese never reached the postseason in first two years in the WNBA with Chicago. She won a title in college at LSU in 2023 and followed it up by helping USA Basketball win its fifth consecutive women's FIBA World Cup championship in September.
She just couldn't help the Dream win their first title in four tries in the finals.
“We’ll be back,” she pledged.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) and forward Naz Hillmon (00) celebrates during the first half of Game 7 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams (1) goes to the basket against Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) during the second half of Game 7 of the WNBA basketball finals on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)
Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) and Golden State Valkyries center Kiah Stokes (41) compete for possession of the ball during the first half of the WNBA Finals Game 7 at Chase Center, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in San Francisco. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
ALBA, Italy (AP) — Guided by the beam of a flashlight, Tino Marolo follows his dog Stella through the darkness of a Piedmont woodland, searching for one of Italy’s most prized culinary treasures hidden beneath the soil.
In the hills around Alba, home to the world’s most famous white truffles, hunters known as “trifolau” traditionally begin their season on Oct. 1. But increasingly, they are confronting a challenge above ground: climate change.
Months of heat and drought have raised concerns about the future of the prized white truffle, a fungus that depends on cool, moist soils and a delicate relationship with tree roots.
“The entire month of October was affected by the lack of rain in July and August and the high temperatures, so it was characterized by poor production and poor truffle shelf life,” said Antonio Degiacomi, president of Italy’s National Centre for Truffle Studies.
According to Degiacomi, dry and compacted soils have also produced smaller truffles this season.
The difficult harvest comes as Alba and the surrounding Langhe hills welcome visitors for the International White Truffle Fair, one of Italy’s best-known food events, which opened on Oct. 10 and runs until Dec. 6.
For Axel Iberti, president of the fair, the season began slowly, with smaller truffles emerging after a hot, dry summer. More recent rains have improved conditions, helping larger specimens appear.
Despite tighter supplies, demand remains strong. Prices at Alba’s truffle market are running about 20% to 30% higher than last year, Iberti said, while hotels and other accommodations have largely sold out during the fair period.
The concerns extend beyond this year’s crop.
“This year certainly stands out from a trend we all know has been going on for five or six years now,” Degiacomi said, citing hotter summers and increasingly erratic rainfall patterns.
Back in the woods, Marolo says uncertainty has always been part of the hunt.
“You certainly come home empty-handed more often than you do with a truffle,” he said. “It’s really the thrill of saying: I don’t know what I’m going to find.”
Similar concerns are emerging elsewhere in Europe’s truffle-producing regions, suggesting a challenge extending beyond any single forest or region.
Across the Adriatic Sea in Croatia, truffle hunters and scientists describe many of the same challenges, from shrinking harvests to declining habitat suitability.
In oak forests outside Zagreb, truffle hunter Petar Alebic says years of drought have made the prized fungi harder to find.
“Each year for the past seven or eight years has been worse than the last,” Alebic said. “Due to the drought, unfortunately, truffles are becoming smaller and scarcer.”
Alebic estimates this year’s harvest is about 30% below normal and increasingly supplements his income with truffle-hunting tours for tourists.
Scientists studying truffles in Croatia report similar findings. Croatia is home to about a dozen truffle species, according to mycologist Armin Mesic of the Rudjer Boskovic Institute. The most prized, the white truffle, can fetch as much as 4,000 euros ($4,500) per kilogram.
“Drought, a lack of rainfall and high temperatures have a significant impact on both the quantity and quality of truffles,” Mesic said.
“Quantities are declining, as is the geographical area where white truffles grow,” he added.
Yet experts in Piedmont reject the idea that the white truffle is doomed.
“I don’t think we’re facing extinction; we’re facing a challenge,” Degiacomi said.
Researchers are studying ways to help truffle habitats adapt, including improved forest management and experimental irrigation during prolonged droughts.
“We’re trying to do what nature does, and do it artificially,” Degiacomi said.
In Alba, the response increasingly centers on restoring and protecting forests.
Iberti has expanded the fair’s focus beyond tourism to include environmental education and conservation efforts.
“The truffle is the sum, but it’s also the vector,” Iberti said. “People come to Alba and the Langhe to discover everything the territory has to offer.”
Working with municipalities, truffle hunters and landowners, communities have begun creating new public truffle grounds and planting trees that could eventually support truffle growth.
“The forest is an act of love and faith for the next two or three generations,” Iberti said.
Advocates say reforestation can help lower soil temperatures, retain moisture and reduce erosion, although it can take more than a decade before newly planted trees become suitable hosts for truffles.
Researchers are also investigating the role of soil microorganisms and looking for tree varieties better suited to hotter and drier conditions.
Attempts to cultivate the prized white truffle continue, but reliable commercial production remains elusive. Unlike black truffles, which can be cultivated, white truffles have largely resisted large-scale production.
As autumn progresses, the size of this year’s harvest will become clearer, along with its effect on prices and supplies reaching restaurants and markets.
For now, however, the ancient partnership between hunters, dogs and forests endures.
One evening in the woods, Stella eventually stops and begins to dig.
The dog has found a truffle.
Whether future generations will continue to enjoy such moments may depend on a mix of science, conservation and adaptation to a warmer climate.
Zampano reported from Rome.
Truffles hunter Tino Marolo searches for truffles with his dog Stella in the woods in Monteu Roero, near Alba, northern Italy, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Truffles hunter Tino Marolo searches for truffles with his dog Stella in the woods in Vezza d'Alba, near Alba, northern Italy, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Truffles hunter Tino Marolo searches for truffles with his dog Stella in the woods in Vezza d'Alba, near Alba, northern Italy, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Truffles hunter Tino Marolo shows truffle found in the woods in Vezza d'Alba, near Alba, northern Italy, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Truffles hunter Tino Marolo checks truffle found with his dog Stella in the woods in Vezza d'Alba, near Alba, northern Italy, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
