On draft night this past April, Connecticut Sun third-rounder Serah Williams got shipped to Portland.
Once an afterthought with little shot to make a roster, the rookie center is now a revelation.
Tonight, in her first career start - filling the stat sheet on both ends of the floor - Williams shined. For added measure, her Portland Fire won by 19, dispatching the Washington Mystics 75-56.
The former Minnesota and UConn big made an impact from the opening tip. After one quarter of action, Portland led 28-13. Thanks to her tenacity on the glass, and focused interior defense - plus the combined efforts of Carla Leite’s 4 assists and Sarah Ashlee Barker’s 4/5 shooting clip - the Fire soared ahead by 16 points at the half.
A back-and-forth third quarter kept Washington at arms length, before Portland landed two crushing blows in the final frame. First, Karlie Samuelson struck paydirt from 28 feet out, keeping the lead at 66-50 with 7:53 remaining. Moments later, a Williams defensive rebound sprang Bridget Carleton in transition, who found Leite for a driving floater. With 4:17 left, Barker dished down low to veteran wing Emily Engstler, lifting the lead to 18.
From there, stifling defense finished the job, keeping Washington off the scoreboard for almost three minutes.
Carla Leite finished with a team-high 14 points on 5/12 shooting, with another flawless performance from the charity stripe on 4 free throw attempts. The rookie Williams finished right behind her in the box score, notching 12 points alongside a robust 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 steal. Only one Washington player crossed the double-digit mark: Mystics guard Shakira Austin had 19 points on a difficult 6/15 shooting rate.
With the win, Portland moves to 11-14 on the season, 9th in the WNBA standings. The Fire next face the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday July 18th at 5 PM PST.
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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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