Fire Roll Past Tempo For First Ever Road Win
Portland used a stellar second half to pickup a blowout win in Toronto
After being held to just 73 points in a frustrating loss to Indiana a couple of nights ago, it would’ve been easy for Portland to roll over on the rest of this road trip.
This certainly was not the case, as the fire put together an inspiring performance on Saturday night in Toronto, routing the Tempo to collect their first ever victory away from the Moda Center.
Falling just a single point shy of triple digits, Portland set a franchise record with 99 points in getting their largest margin of victory so far in their very young franchise history. The fire certainly were just that from three-point land, shooting 48% on 28 attempts from beyond the arc.
Additionally, they got it done on the defensive side of the ball. They held Toronto to just 37 total points in the second half, and a lot of this was due to excellent perimeter defense. The Tempo made just six of their 25 three-point attempts.
It wasn’t the smoothest start for coach Sarama’s squad, with Portland playing catch up for a good portion of the first quarter. But a few quality defensive possessions, along with outside shots from Sarah Ashlee Barker and Freidha Buhner, got the visitors back into it. It was tied at 16 at the end of one.
Star point guard Carla Leite really got things going in the second period, putting up four points and a couple of assists in the first three minutes. But Tempo guard Kiki Rice proved very difficult to guard, going on a personal 7-2 early in the 2nd. The Fire were able to keep pace, however, and it went into the dressing room tied at 44.
Portland got things going right away to start the second half. Off a great dribble-drive kick-out from Leite, Emily Engstler received a pass and connected on a deep three-point shot. Just a couple minutes later, Bridget Carleton did what she does best in knocking down an outside jumper, giving the Fire their largest lead of the game at six. A nice turn-around jumpshot from Sarah Ashlee Barker pushed the lead out to 57-50 with five minutes remaining in the period.
Not surprisingly, the home side wasn’t going down easy. The Tempo were able to climb their way back into the contest, cutting the deficit down to just three points off of a 7-0 burst. But Portland swung back with a big counter-punch of their own, starting off the 4th quarter with a big run fueled by Leite and Engstler. Nyadiew Puoch got in on the action shortly after this, finding herself open off a pass from Carla and connecting on a triple that put her team up fourteen points.
Portland’s lead was never threatened very much from this point on, as the Fire just kept converting on the offensive end. An extremely deep three from Carleton with four minutes put the icing on the cake, and Portland took care of the ball in the final few minutes to seal out this win.
In what was an electric performance from the offense, the Fire had five players end up in double figures. Emily Engstler had a big night, leading the team in two categories with 16 points and seven boards. Leite put 15 on the scoreboard, and also dished out a whopping nine assists. Center Megan Gustafson was extremely efficient off the bench, shooting 6-8 from the floor and also grabbing four rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
The Fire will look to ride this momentum into their next game at the NY Liberty on Monday night, after these two teams split a pair of games back in Portland a week and a half ago. This game will tip off at 5 PM.