The Portland Fire stopped its home losing skid with a 97-83 win over fellow expansion club Toronto on Thursday night at the Moda Center.
Portland’s Jordan Harrison hit a 3-pointer and Megan DiLeo scored on a finger roll in the lane to push Portland ahead to stay in the final minute of the first quarter. The Fire would grow their lead to as many as 27 points in the dominating performance.
“It’s always good for morale in the locker room and to celebrate as a team collectively,” Fire coach Alex Sarama said.
Toronto closed to within 91-83 with 2:43 to play, but Portland’s defense locked in down the stretch as the Tempo missed its last five shots of the night.
Portland shot 33-for-66 (50%) for the night, led by Carla Leite with 27 points and 11 assists. Bridget Carleton added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“It felt great, we were so excited to win this game today,” Leite said.
Portland (12-19) is back on its home floor at 5:30 p.m. Saturday to take on Northwest rival Seattle.