The Portland Fire stopped a three-game losing streak with a 101-83 road win in Atlanta on Friday night.
The Fire built a commanding 52-33 lead late in the first half on triples by Carla Leite and Megan DiLeo, along with a turnaround shot in the lane by Emily Engstler.
Portland maintained a comfortable margin most of the way only to see Atlanta trim the lead to six points with 5:52 to play.
The Fire responded with Holly Winterburn and Amy Okonkwo hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the gap back to double digits. DiLeo converted a layup to put the game out of reach 96-81 as the clock rolled under two minutes.
Leite led the Fire with 26 points, while Engstler finished with 25 points and four blocked shots.
Atlanta’s loss proved costly, knocking them out of home-court advantage for the playoffs with five games remaining.
Portland (16-23) returns home to face Golden State at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Moda Center.