ATLANTA — Something had been off for the Golden State Valkyries. In games 2 and 3 of the WNBA Finals, Coach Natalie Nakase had seen the 2-seeded juggernaut sputter, a machine in need of recalibration.

So Nakase switched things up in the starting lineup, throwing out Prince George’s County native and former Maryland Terrapin Kaila Charles as one of the starting guards, along with Tiffany Hayes. Their energy helped get the Valkyries running smoothly again.

The gritty performance from Golden State helped steal a 67-62 win on the road against the Atlanta Dream to tie the Finals at 2-all. Their defense hassled the Dream for 18 turnovers, frustrated Atlanta star Angel Reese into a 2-for-12 shooting performance and managed to hold off a final rally in a loud, hostile arena.

It wasn’t special, the Valkyries insisted. It was just getting back to who they are.

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“I think we had the energy,” said Charles, who finished with five points and five rebounds. “We punched first, and we kind of dictated. … So, when they were trying to make their run, we didn’t fold, we didn’t put our heads down. We just continued to keep punching and keep punching.”

A series-leveling win was quite the blow for Golden State, a franchise in just its second season of existence. The series now boils down to which team can win two of the next three games — and the Valkyries play Game 5 and a potential Game 7 at Ballhalla, their vaunted home court environment.

Reese, a Baltimore County native who was named a second-team all-league selection Saturday, had sparked the Dream’s efforts in the series with three straight double-doubles, including at least 20 points in the second and third games. But, matched up with Golden State’s Kiah Stokes, Reese struggled profoundly for the first time in the Finals, finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and six turnovers.

Stokes helped shut down league MVP A’ja Wilson in the previous series, and for the first time in the Finals she got a handle on Reese, finishing with three blocks. When Stokes was out of the game, the Valkyries enforced a zone defense scheme that shrank the space around Reese and limited her touches. Atlanta shot 33% from the floor, 17% on 3-pointers and just 22-for-31 on free throws.

Reese blamed herself for her unsightly shooting day.

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“I think I rushed a lot of my shots, and I didn’t take my time and finish around the basket like I’ve been doing in the last three games,” she said. “It happens. I’m looking forward to the next game, and I’ll just be better.”

Golden State led by as many at 16 points, carrying a sizable lead into the break. But there were a handful of moments that threatened to put the Dream back in the fight — none more than Rhyne Howard’s three-point play on a contested layup that pulled Atlanta within four points with 28.7 seconds remaining.

But the Valkyries remained just composed enough to hold on for the win, sealing it by forcing two rushed Dream shots and a turnover by Reese.

Charles is not as big a star as Reese, who followed in her footsteps with Prince George’s County’s Team Takeover AAU program and later the University of Maryland. But the 28-year-old guard led the Golden State starting lineup in plus-minus rating, with the Valkyries outscoring the Dream by 14 points in her 29 minutes. Her deflections and hustle plays helped set the tone for Golden State in a critical win.

“What Kaila was doing even early in the Finals was just bringing that energy,” Nakase said. “The best thing was we didn’t even miss a beat. So credit to Kai for stepping up.”