By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Portland Fire Outlast Seattle Storm in Thrilling 84-82 Finish

The  Portland Fire ( 14-20 ) finished the season sweep over the Seattle Storm ( 7-29)with a 84-82 win. The Fire’s disruptive tactics slowed down the Storm early in the game. And as they have done all season, the Storm mustered late-game energy and determination before losing another close game.

“ I thought they disrupted our offense and we struggled early, but our players grew into the game,” said head coach Sonia Raman. We had five of our eight first-half turnovers in the first quarter.”

FAST-PACED FIRST QUARTER WITH LITTLE SCORING

The first quarter was an up-and-down quarter that saw both teams flying out of the gates intent on reaching 100 points. The focus on setting a WNBA scoring record for most points led both teams to miss some easy shots early and play lax defense.

The Storm were 6/20 from the field and finished with just 16 points in the quarter. The Fire made 9/22 field goal attempts and finished the quarter with 26 points. A 10-3 run late in the quarter saw the visitors finish the quarter with a ten-point lead. The Storm’s biggest culprit, in addition to poor shooting, was their 6 turnovers that led to 8 Fire points.

 STORM UNABLE TO CLOSE OUT QUARTER

The teams traded to start the second quarter, and an improved shooting performance by the Storm cut the Fire’s lead to just two points with 3:03 left in the second quarter on a Dominique Malonga basket. Similar to the first quarter, the Storm were unable to close out the quarter. The Fire closed the quarter on a 12-2 run with Bridget Carleton hitting two three-pointers. The first half ended with the Fire holding a 48-36 lead.

POOR SHOOTING  THIRD QUARTER BY BOTH SIDES

 A missed layup by Malonga, who struggled offensively all night, saw the Fire take their biggest lead of the quarter on Carla Leite’s layup.  The layup saw the Fire take a  50-36 lead.  The Storm rolled off a 10-run that started with a Jordan Horston free throw, followed by back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by Ezi Magbegor, Horston, and Jade Melbourne. The run put the Storm within striking distance at 46-50 . A two-point basket and a three-pointer by Frieda  Buhner extended the Fire’s lead to 55-46. Awa Fam’s three-pointer brought the Storm within four points at  51-55. Another late run by the Fire saw the visitors holding a 62-54 lead.

STORM MAKE  IT CLOSE

 Portland started the quarter with a 9-1 run for its biggest lead of the game at  71-55 on an Emily  Engstler free throw with  8:24 left in the game. At that point, it looked as if the Storm were headed for their 29th loss of the season.   Looks were deceiving as the Storm outscored the Fire 15-9 to cut the deficit to 70-79 with 4:33 remaining on another three-pointer by Fam.

 Megan DiLeo made one of two three-point throws, which opened the door for another Storm run. The Storm seized the opportunity and reeled off a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to just one point on Natisha Hiedeman’s three-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in the game. In the run, Raman had her big three, Malonga, Ezi Magbegor, and Fam in the game.

 After being fouled, Carla Leite made one of two free throws, giving the Storm one desperation shot to tie or win the game down 84-82. A timeout by Storm head coach Sonia Raman brought the ball to half court for the last play of the game. With multiple options on the inbound, the ball went to Hiedeman, who barely missed the 20-foot jumper.

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