Gabby Williams Gets Candid After Leading France to Historic World Cup Final

Gabby Williams reached 187 career points at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup on Saturday. The 22 she scored in an 86-64 semifinal win over host Germany moved her past FIBA Hall of Famer Céline Dumerc and into third on France's all-time list in the competition.

Against Germany, she shot 8-of-12, including 6-of-7 inside the arc, and made four of five free throws. Her efficiency rating of 31 was the highest. She played 31 minutes, 19 seconds without a turnover or foul.

Dominique Malonga finished with 4 points that night, all from the free-throw line.

"It's just great to have her as an example ... of consistency, of just hard work and and aggressiveness throughout all the game," Malonga said. "It was a tough night for me, and and just having her talking to me and pouring into me, having her energy helped a lot."

Every one of her five games in Berlin has finished in double figures, and through four of them she led the tournament at 18.7 points per game. Nigeria was the big one: 25 points in 18 minutes on 8-of-12 shooting, 6-of-8 from 3-point range, in a 111-56 win where France set a World Cup single-game record with 22 3-pointers. She had 14 points against South Korea in a 95-69 win and 14 more with 7 rebounds in the quarterfinal against China.

France named Williams captain before her 56th national appearance. She is the first active WNBA player to captain France at an Olympics or World Cup since 2014. The armband passed from Valériane Ayayi, who rejoined the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury after over a decade. Sarah Michel previously served as captain at the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Olympics before retiring.

Two years ago in Paris, Williams led France at the Olympics with 15.5 points and 5.8 assists per game, scoring 19 in the gold medal game. With France down three, she released a shot at the buzzer with her foot on the 3-point line, and the United States won 67-66. Before Saturday's semifinal, Williams said she had "no preference" between Spain and the United States.

"We're not going to show weaknesses on the court, we're not going to show doubts," Williams explained. "If we did, our opponents would eat us alive."

Williams was born in Reno, grew up in Sparks, Nevada, and turned 30 during this tournament, on Sept. 9. Her mother's family is French. Her grandmother, Angela Bishop, was a French teacher who lived nearby and started teaching her the language at 6 or 7, using workbooks, activities, and computer games. One assignment was a letter to her great-grandmother in Paris.

"It made me open," Williams said of her French side. "I'm thankful I got to learn the world is bigger than America, which a lot of American kids don't really learn."

Alfonso Joo coached Williams from fourth grade through 11th.

"She became more refined when she went overseas," Joo said.

Williams won NCAA titles with UConn in 2015 and 2016, and was drafted fourth overall by the Chicago Sky in 2018. She played in Chicago until 2021 and then with the Seattle Storm from 2022 to 2025, missing time due to a concussion and stress fracture. Golden State signed her this year to a three-year contract worth nearly $3.75 million. She averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in her first season with the Valkyries, their second in the league, and her 1.6 steals per game helped Golden State clinch a playoff berth.

She has made the WNBA All-Star team in each of the past two seasons and started the game for the first time this year. She led the league in steals in 2025 and made the All-Defensive first team that season. Her first All-Defensive selection, to the second team, came in 2022. Overseas she has won two EuroLeague titles, with Sopron and Fenerbahçe, and been named that competition's Defensive Player of the Year three times, most recently this year.

France plays the United States at 2 p.m. ET Sunday in Berlin. Williams is one of eight active WNBA players on the French roster.