Carla Leite scored a team-high 20 points as the expansion Portland Fire defeated the host Seattle Storm 77-72 Saturday night in the first meeting between the WNBA’s Pacific Northwest rivals at Climate Pledge Arena.
Bridget Carleton scored 14 points and Megan Gustafson added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Fire (9-12), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Portland’s Emily Engstler and Frieda Buhner combined for 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Dominique Malonga led the Storm (5-17) with 22 points. Natisha Hiedeman scored 15 and rookie Awa Fam added 12. Seattle remained winless in 12 games against Western Conference foes.
Fam made a 3-pointer from the left corner with 6:29 remaining to pull the Storm within 61-58. The Fire answered with a 5-0 run, capped by Carleton’s three-point play, to maintain command.
Malonga made two free throws with 2:39 left as Seattle again pulled within three, but Carleton made a driving, second-chance layup after an offensive rebound by Gustafson with 1:48 left. Gustafson sank a lay-in and free throw with 1:04 to go to put Portland up 71-63.
Malonga made a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute, but Portland clinched the victory at the free-throw line.
The Fire made 36.8% of their field-goal attempts (25 of 68), but were just 4 of 25 from 3-point range. The Storm shot 33.8% (24 of 71) from the floor and were 8 of 29 from distance. Portland outrebounded Seattle 47-31 despite a size disadvantage inside.
After leading by two at the half, the Fire began pulling away late in the third.
Gustafson’s 3-pointer broke a 38-all tie with 6:01 left in the quarter to give Portland the lead for good. Buhner scored seven points in a 9-3 run to put the Fire up by seven and they took a 54-47 lead into the fourth.
The Fire opened the second quarter with an 8-0 streak as Leite converted a three-point play and Engstler added a 3-pointer and a driving layup to pull Portland within 20-18. The teams traded the lead until late layups by Engstler and Barker broke a tie and helped the Fire take a 32-30 lead at the intermission.
Hiedeman scored nine points in the first as the Storm took a 20-10 lead. Portland shot just 2 for 16 in the opening quarter, including missing all eight of its 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
