By the time the expansion Portland Fire take the court Saturday in Seattle, they will have had five days off to recoup from their record-tying 124-123 loss in quadruple overtime at Washington.
“I think so many times we could have just given up, but every single time, (we) fought back,” Fire coach Alex Sarama said. “I mean, so many great learning opportunities for us as a young group. … (I’m) just so proud of the players. I think we showed when we play like that, we can play with anyone in this league and challenge them.”
It was only the second loss for the Fire (8-12) in eight “clutch” games this season — those decided by a margin of five points or fewer in the final five minutes.
Carla Leite, who banked in a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation, scored a career-high 32 points for the Fire, who are 0-3 on a four-game trip that concludes Saturday. Sarah Ashlee Barker added 25 points and Megan Gustafson scored 20.
The Fire stayed relatively fresh due to Sarama’s system in which he sometimes substitutes five players at a time, like a line change in hockey.
“That’s who we are in Portland. That’s the system. That’s what he does here,” Barker said. “But we all bought into that and we all came together and that’s why the success that we’re having with it is working, because no one is questioning it.”
The Storm (5-16), who had a two-game winning streak snapped with a 90-67 loss at Phoenix, are still searching for their first victory against a Western Conference opponent this season. They’re 0-11 thus far.
Center/forward Ezi Magbegor (foot) made her season debut for the Storm and scored eight points.
“It was just nice to be on the floor and be healthy again,” Magbegor said. “Obviously, it would have been nice to get the win, but I think it’s just one step at a time, just getting used to playing with my teammates again.”
This will be the first meeting between the teams in Seattle. Host Portland posted a 94-89 victory against the Storm in a WNBA Commissioner’s Cup game June 17 as Bridget Carleton scored 24 points and Leite added 20 points and 10 assists.
–Field Level Media
