Connecticut Sun Extinguish Portland Fire Comeback Bid, 90-87
Camp Day offered Connecticut fans - including thousands of kids - plenty of reasons to celebrate. Learn more in this piece.
The countless thousands of new Portland-area WNBA fans might be forgiven for feigning ignorance at one of the W’s most fun traditions: Camp Day.
This morning, the Portland Fire got to experience that tradition first-hand.
In a game that tipped off bright and early Tuesday - 11 AM local time - Connecticut fought off a feisty Portland comeback to win by three, 90-87.
Four Fire players surpassed double-digit point totals, led by driving point guard Carla Leite’s 18 points on 6/11 shooting, 6 flawless free throw shots, and 6 assists. Her efforts were aided by center Megan Gustafson’s 15 points on 6/12 shooting, wing Emily Engstler’s 14 points on 5/12 shooting, and wing Bridget Carleton’s 12 points on 5/11 shooting. Defensively, Engstler and Carleton combined for 6 steals.
While Portland’s starters amassed impressive stats, and their bench shot an outstanding 50% (7/14) from the floor, it wasn’t enough for the win. Connecticut center Brittney Griner dominated to the tune of 20 points on 8/11 shooting, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks, and forward Aaliyah Edwards excelled. In 24 minutes, Edwards notched 21 points on 9/13 shooting, and hauled 8 rebounds.
“We just can’t afford to come out slow in games like this,” opined Portland head coach Alex Sarama after the action concluded. The first year coach went on to credit the loss to Connecticut’s talents inside the paint. “Just I felt athletically [it was] really difficult to contain. I think we’ve struggled with teams this year that had those really athletic bigs with length, size, and skill. You know, I thought BG and Edwards just really got what they wanted tonight. Obviously, seeing what they shot from the field, and then we just weren’t disruptive enough. Obviously we tried to double, [and] it got better as the game went on, but early on, just multiple scenarios where BG was just shooting over us or we weren’t positioned correctly. So, yeah, another one that we keep learning from, and [we will] carry it into the DC game.”
Portland will next play Thursday at 4 PM PST at the Washington Mystics, in a rematch of a four-overtime thriller last month.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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