A furious fourth-quarter rally buoyed the Portland Fire into overtime, where they knocked off the visiting Golden State Valkyries 90-82 on Tuesday night, clinching the top seed in the playoffs for the Minnesota Lynx in the process.
The Valkyries (31-12) came into the contest looking to keep their hopes of the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs alive, but the loss leaves them a game behind the Lynx with one to play. Minnesota won the season series over Golden State 3-1, giving the Lynx the tiebreaker.
Portland (17-27) endured a drought lasting more than four minutes in the final period of regulation, falling behind 75-68. But in just 1:20, the Fire ran off a 9-0 run thanks in part to a pair of Golden State turnovers and missed Gabby Williams 3-point attempt.
In the extra frame, Kayla Thornton connected on a 3-pointer that gave Golden State an 82-79 lead with 3:13 to go. But the Valkyries did not score again as Portland ended the game on an 11-0 run.
Portland’s Bridget Carleton led all scorers with 26 points.
The Fire’s leading scorer Carla Leite managed just eight points through the game’s first 36 minutes. She came alive down the stretch of the fourth quarter and into overtime, however, scoring 10 points in less than nine minutes to help snap her former team’s six-game winning streak.
Megan DiLeo added 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Portland, while Emily Engstler posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Engstler also delivered a big block of Thornton early into overtime that prevented Golden State from taking a two-score lead.
The Fire had to scrap for scoring opportunities against the WNBA’s top scoring defense. Portland shot just 29 of 74 (39.2%) from the floor and 10 of 36 (27.8%) from 3-point range.
Holding the Valkyries to just 26-of-66 shooting (39.4%) on the other end, however, including 8 of 31 (25.8%) from beyond the arc, powered the Fire to victory. The win ended a four-game slide to send Portland out of its inaugural season on a high note.
Williams topped Golden State with 17 points. Veronica Burton logged 13 points and eight assists, Janelle Salaun and Thornton finished with 11 points apiece while Tiffany Hayes added 10 points for the Valkyries, who conclude the regular season on Thursday at Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
