The Golden State Valkyries are one win away from their first WNBA championship after beating the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the Finals on Monday night at Chase Center.

The Valkyries won the opener 68-64, lost the next two games by a combined 40 points, but have now won two straight to lead the series 3-2, with Dream star Angel Reese held to single digits in each of the last two games.

After Monday’s loss, Reese and Atlanta head coach Karl Smesko turned their attention to the officiating amid the physical nature of the Finals.

Atlanta’s Angel Reese and Karl Smesko Take Aim at the WNBA Finals Officiating

Reese finished Game 5 with 7 points on 2-of-8 shooting and 15 rebounds, a stark contrast to her impressive production in Games 1 and 2. After the game, she raised her concerns over the officiating during a physical series while watching her teammates “getting slapped to the ground or goggles knocked off.”

“A lot of us are getting fouled, and they’re not calling it. Or we’re talking to the ref after, and they’re saying, ‘Oh, we’ll get you next time.’ So it is a little frustrating,” Reese said.

When asked if there was a particular moment that stood out, she brought up a Game 4 incident involving Valkyries’ Gabby Williams.

“I would definitely say last game… there was also a possession where Gabby pulled me on purpose, and she was screaming foul, and they didn’t call it,” Reese said. “So that definitely was frustrating for sure. And her team is saying it, and they’re all screaming foul, but the refs, I don’t know what’s going on.”

“And I know I have the mismatch… So when I do switch on the post, and I’m a lot stronger than the opponent, I should be able to turn, and they’re calling offensive foul, but I’m getting pushed before that. So that is frustrating.”

Reese has been called for 4 fouls in each of the last two games, and the Dream went 11-of-14, their fewest free-throw attempts of the postseason, while Golden State went 10-of-13.

Over the five games so far, Smesko’s side have attempted 130 free throws to the Valkyries’ 78.

Smesko did not mince words in sharing his concerns about the officiating either.

“The contact they allow on Angel compared to everybody else is just ridiculous. And we should have gone to the foul line six to eight more times just on that,” he said. “And then to miss double dribbles and travels, multiple that always led to points? Man, you can’t be at this level and make that many mistakes.”

Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase offered a different view of the physical play, saying, “These are two defensive-minded teams… they like physicality, so that’s part of it. I ain’t shocked about this. You have an Atlanta Dream team that’s well-coached, that have dogs, same as us.”

Smesko acknowledged the Dream’s own misses before turning back to the officiating. “There are things that are on us, like we’re missing shots we should make. But at the same time, that needs to be a whole lot better than it was.”

Those misses piled up in Game 5. The Dream shot 19-of-65 from the field and 6-of-26 from 3. They scored 8 points in the second quarter as the Valkyries took a 25-22 lead into halftime.

Atlanta’s 17 total turnovers became 21 points for the Golden State.

Kiah Stokes fueled the win with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Veronica Burton matched her 13 points and added 8 rebounds and 4 blocks. Meanwhile, Rhyne Howard led the Dream with 20 points as they squandered a 2-1 lead.

The series now moves to Atlanta, with Game 6 tipping off Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena.

Reese and her Dream must win and force a Game 7 or watch the Valkyries walk away with their first-ever championship.