The Portland Fire erased a 12-point second half deficit to beat the Seattle Storm 94-89 in the renewal of the Northwest rivalry Wednesday night at the Moda Center.
Bridget Carleton found herself with the ball in the corner of the court, gave a pump fake to move her defender, then swished a 3-pointer to pull the Fire within a bucket as the clock ticked under five minutes.
A few minutes later, Carla Leite was shoved out of the way while chasing an offensive rebound. Seattle was hit with a flagrant foul, and Leite sank a pair of free throws. Portland got the ball back, and Leite drove the lane before sending a pass out to the corner where Megan Gustafson sank a 3 to tie the game with 2:04 to play.
Portland took the lead on its next trip downcourt when Emily Engstler hit a baseline fadeaway shot for the go-ahead points.
After a Seattle turnover, Engstler dribbled into the lane before whipping a pass to the perimeter where Carleton hit her seventh 3 of the night to secure the win. She finished 7-for-13 (53.8%) from behind the arc, matching the franchise record for triples in a game.
“The basket looks big when you hit your first three, and my teammates found me in some great spots,” Carleton said.
She finished with a team-high 24 points.
Seattle was held scoreless over the final 2:30 of the game, giving up a turnover and missing their last four shots.
“I’ve never seen a team like this, best net defense in the fourth quarter in the league and that’s a credit to them,” Fire coach Alex Sarama said.
Leite had 20 points and 10 assists for Portland, while Karlie Samuelson added 10 points off the bench.
Portland (8-9) starts a four-game road trip Wednesday, June 24, in Chicago.