Carla Leite scored 26 points on Friday night to help the Portland Fire pull off a surprising 101-83 victory over the Atlanta Dream in College Park, Ga.
Emily Engstler added 25 points and six rebounds and Megan DiLeo scored 16 points for the Fire (16-23), who snapped a three-game losing streak. Holly Winterburn had 11 points and a pair of important 3-pointers for Portland, which was eliminated from postseason contention on Tuesday.
Rhyne Howard led Atlanta (25-14) with 26 points, followed by Angel Reese’s 16 points and 16 rebounds. Jordin Canada and Allisha Gray each scored 11 points and Naz Hillmon had 10 for the Dream, who had won four straight.
Trailing by 14 at halftime, Atlanta sliced the margin to five after Howard’s 3-pointer and a Reese layup with 4:13 left in the third.
Portland answered with consecutive 3-pointers from Winterburn to start an 8-0 run. Leite finished off a three-point play to extend the Fire’s lead to 71-56. The visitors led by 13 entering the final quarter.
Atlanta fought back to cut the deficit to six on Reese’s layup and Canada’s three-point play. Again, though, the Fire had a response. Winterburn and Amy Okonkwo each connected on 3-pointers and DiLeo made consecutive layups to give Portland a 92-76 advantage with 3:26 remaining, icing the win.
Gray hit a 3-pointer to begin the game’s scoring, but Portland answered with 13 straight points to take a 10-point lead midway through the first quarter.
After Canada completed a three-point play to stamp an Atlanta run, the Fire finished the opening quarter on a 10-1 run to take a 28-18 edge into the second. Portland’s lead ballooned to 16 on Engstler’s 3-pointer with 6:42 left in the first half.
Reese made two free throws and Isobel Borlase drilled a trey to narrow the gap to 12, before another Portland run — this time a 9-2 spurt — opened up the lead to 19. A Howard 3-pointer and Te-Hina Paopao’s mid-range jumper in the final seconds pulled the Dream within 14 at halftime.
Engstler led all first-half scorers with 18, while Reese paced Atlanta with nine points and nine boards.
–Field Level Media
