Sarah Ashlee Barker made a layup off an offensive rebound at the final buzzer as the expansion Portland Fire earned their first WNBA victory, defeating the visiting New York Liberty 98-96 Tuesday night.
Barker was all alone underneath and grabbed Bridget Carleton’s 3-point miss and banked in the winning shot. It gave the Fire their first lead since midway through the third quarter.
Carleton, the first pick in the WNBA expansion draft, scored a game-high 26 points for Portland. Carla Leite added 21 points and six assists, returning in the fourth quarter after having to be helped off the court with 20 seconds left in the third after twisting an ankle. Kamiah Smalls and Luisa Geiselsoder each added 13 points.
Rookie Pauline Astier led New York with 24 points, shooting 10 of 14 from the field. But Astier was called for three seconds in the key on the offensive end with 13.8 seconds left as the Liberty held the ball for a potential final shot.
Marine Johannes added 18 points, Jonquel Jones scored 17 and two-time MVP Breanna Stewart had 16 points — despite 4-of-12 shooting — and 10 rebounds for the Liberty, which suffered their first loss after winning their first two games of the season.
New York shot 53.2% from the field (33 of 62), including 13 of 28 from 3-point range. Portland made half of its attempts (34 of 68) and was 15 of 33 from distance.
New York took a 77-70 advantage into the fourth quarter.
The Liberty led 54-47 at the intermission as Astier had 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
The Liberty led by as many as 13 points before the Fire closed the half on a 9-3 run, with Emily Engstler making a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left in the half to ignite the crowd.
Former University of Oregon standouts Sabrina Ionescu (left foot) and Satou Sabally (cyst) were both inactive for the Liberty.
–Field Level Media
