SAN FRANCISCO -- Kiah Stokes couldn't get through her on-court postgame interview following the Golden State Valkyries' 64-55 win over the Atlanta Dream in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals without MVP chants raining down from the stands at Ballhalla.

Before the playoffs, it would have been an almost inconceivable scene for Stokes, a defensive specialist and role player for most of her career. But her two-way performance Monday night -- a continuation of her breakout postseason and Finals series especially -- has Golden State one win from a WNBA championship in its second year as a franchise.

"Kiah Stokes will be our MVP [if the Valkyries win the championship]," Golden State coach Natalie Nakase said. "I heard chants. Ballhalla, I appreciate you guys. That type of love that came for Kiah Stokes, chanting Kiah, Kiah, Kiah. Couldn't be more proud."

Added Veronica Burton: "We're not here without Kiah."

The Valkyries, who led by as many as 16 points late in the fourth quarter, dictated the tone from the jump with their defense. They held the Dream to 29.2% shooting, the fourth-lowest percentage by a team in any WNBA Finals game; forced 17 turnovers, off which they scored 21 points; and limited Atlanta to just 18 points in the paint.

Golden State is chock-full of elite defenders, but Stokes -- a three-time WNBA and three-time NCAA champion -- has been the Valkyries' anchor all series. Atlanta is shooting just 9-for-48, including 0-for-8 on 3-pointers, when contested by Stokes. She also has six straight games with three or more blocked shots, tying Lisa Leslie for the longest such streak in a season in WNBA playoff history.

Stokes' defense has also been crucial to containing Dream star Angel Reese. After scoring 51 points across Games 2 and 3, Reese (7 points on Monday) was held to single digits in consecutive games for just the second time in her career.

And though Stokes has averaged just 3.3 points per game in her WNBA career, she knocked down plenty of shots in Game 5 -- a welcome sight given offense was hard to come for both teams. Golden State's 64 points were the fewest in a Finals win since 2005, and the teams' 119 points were the fifth-fewest combined points in a Finals game.

Stokes' 13 points tied her season high and marked the second-highest-scoring playoff game of her career. And her three 3-pointers -- which evoked particularly vociferous roars from the crowd at Chase Center -- matched or exceeded the total number of triples she made in six of her 11 seasons.

"She has great length. She has great instincts. She's really good at protecting the rim," Dream coach Karl Smesko said. "We've just got to get her moving a little bit more, make it a little bit harder for her to just pack it in the paint, but give her credit. She's having a great series, and she made some shots today, which were also big for them."

Stokes, who never averaged more than seven points or 28 minutes in a season, is in her first year with the Valkyries after previous stints with New York and Las Vegas, where she contributed to each of the Aces' three championships in a four-year span.

Thanks to what she has described as "head-down, blue-collar hoops," Stokes has emerged as an invaluable piece to Golden State's second-place finish in the regular season and run to the Finals.

Nakase has also praised Stokes' leadership and composure as a veteran player who has been through nearly five-dozen postseason games.

"I always know what I brought to a team. I always understood my value," Stokes said. "But just to hear an arena full of 18,000 fans [chanting for her], it really makes me feel appreciated and loved."

Golden State can clinch a championship with a win Thursday at Atlanta's State Farm Arena or Saturday in San Francisco at Chase Center.

The Valkyries said Monday that won't be how they view what's in front of them in Game 6.

"As much as we love Ballhalla, we don't want to come back here," Stokes said. "So we need to go in with the mentality that we have to win. It's do-or-die."