Portland Fire Beat Rival, Snap Road Losing Streak
Carla Leite's twenty point night put Portland past Seattle, 77-72.
Twice this season, the Portland Fire have battled their rivals, the Seattle Storm.
Twice this season, the Rose City has emerged victorious. Thanks to the efforts of Carla Leite - who scored 20 points behind a flawless 14/14 free throw rate - the Fire defeated their rivals last night in a thriller.
Entering the night, Portland slumped in with a 2-8 record in their previous 10 games. Through one quarter, that negative trend appeared undeterred. Behind several lethal transition attacks, Seattle led 20-10.
The second quarter featured a stark reversal of fortune. With 9:18 to go, Carla Leite drove from the left elbow into the lane, drew a foul, and swished a bank shot for added measure. The and-1 marked the first points of the night for the second year French guard. Thirty second later, once again attacked from the arc's left edge into Seattle’s paint. This time, she collapsed the defense - enticing three black jerseys towards her dribble - before kicking out to a wide open Emily Engstler for three.
From there, a Seattle miss fell into the arms of Sarah Ashlee Barker. After crossing the halfway line, the second year guard from Alabama lobbed a perfect pass from one hip to the opposite shoulder, lured by Engstler for a transition bucket. With just past two minutes gone, Portland trailed 20-18. Only the halftime buzzer would stop the Rose City run, as the Fire went into the locker room up 32-30.
Surprisingly, Portland only hit two made threes in the first half: the aforementioned Engstler strike, and a twenty-five footer by Euro guard Teja Oblak. Through two quarters, feisty Seattle defense denied their perimeter strikes.
Coming out of the break, the Fire adjusted to what their opponents offered them. With 9:18 remaining in the third, Leite ran to the net for a layup, drawing an and-1. At 7:53 left, she did it again. Time after time, Seattle focused its attention upon black & red snipers across the arc, and Leite made them pay. In the third quarter, she notched 8 points (on 4 made free throws) with 1 assist. When the period ended, Portland led 54-47.
The fourth quarter featured thunderous blasts from both teams. At the 9:23 mark, Bridget Carleton bumped Portland up 8 with a twenty-four footer. With 6:29 to go, that lead was threatened after an Awa Fam twenty-three foot fadeaway crawled Seattle within 3. Seattle struck again with 3:17 left, as a Natisha Hiederman twenty-five foot swish moved the margin to 5.
In the final minute, Leite silenced any prayers of a comeback. Up four with 43.2 on the clock, Portland’s star point guard beat Seattle defender Zia Cooke, earned a foul, and swished her ninth and tenth made free throws of the night. After Dominique Malonga missed a high block jumper on the other end, the game was out of reach.
By securing the 77-72 final score, Portland snapped its six game road losing streak dating back to June 2nd against the Golden State Valkyries. Portland is now 9-12 this season, 6th in the Western Conference and 11th league-wide.
On Thursday, Portland will return home. Tipping off at 7 PM from Moda Center, the Fire will rematch the Las Vegas Aces, who won a shootout in Portland last month.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter 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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