{"id":667620,"date":"2026-05-27T07:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/667620\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:34:17","slug":"your-new-idols-the-portland-fires-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/667620\/","title":{"rendered":"Your New Idols: the Portland Fire\u2019s Roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before you go any further in your journey to die-hard Portland Fire fandom, you need to know who\u2019s on the team. The roster was built in just weeks earlier this spring through an expansion draft in which the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo (the league\u2019s other brand-new team) got to choose players from a pool of athletes left unprotected by the 13 preexisting WNBA teams. (Another way to put it: An expansion draft is sort of like picking teams at recess if the kids who were really good at sports weren\u2019t allowed to be chosen. Except in this analogy, every kid in the school is far better at sports than the average person.) This roster is up to date as of Monday, May 25.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bridget Carleton (WNBA) <\/p>\n

Starters<\/p>\n

Bridget Carleton<\/p>\n

#6<\/p>\n

Age: 28<\/p>\n

Position: Forward<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20192\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Carleton played on the Canadian national team at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Carleton has played professionally in several countries, including Australia, France, Israel, Spain, Hungary and Turkey.<\/p>\n

\"\"Emily Engstler (WNBA) Emily Engstler<\/p>\n

#21<\/p>\n

Age: 26<\/p>\n

Position: Forward<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20191\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Washington Mystics<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Engstler was drafted as the fourth overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2022 WNBA draft.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Engstler got her start at age 11 as a streetballer in Roosevelt Island, N.Y.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nyadiew Puoch (WNBA) Nyadiew Puoch<\/p>\n

#13<\/p>\n

Age: 21<\/p>\n

Position: Forward<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20193\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: UC Capitals (WNBL)<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Puoch won the Women\u2019s National Basketball League championship in Australia with the Southside Melbourne Flyers in 2024. <\/p>\n

Fun fact: Puoch is one of seven siblings.<\/p>\n

\"\"Luisa Geiselsoder (WNBA) Luisa Geiselsoder<\/p>\n

#15<\/p>\n

Age: 26<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20194\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Dallas Wings<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Geiselsoder started at center for the German national team in its first-ever Olympic Games appearance in 2024.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Luisa is not the only professional athlete in her family; her sister, Laura, is a professional basketball player in Germany.<\/p>\n

\"\"Carla Leite (WNBA) Carla Leite<\/p>\n

#0<\/p>\n

Age: 22<\/p>\n

Position: Guard<\/p>\n

Height: 5\u20199\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Leite was a EuroCup Women champion in 2025 and was named EuroCup Finals MVP.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Leite chose the number 0 her sophomore year of high school because she loved Russell Westbrook.<\/p>\n

\"\"Megan Gustafson (WNBA) <\/p>\n

Bench<\/p>\n

Megan Gustafson<\/p>\n

#17<\/p>\n

Age: 29<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20194\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Las Vegas Aces<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Gustafson won the a 2025 WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: In her senior year playing for Iowa, Gustafson was named the ESPNW National Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

\"\"Teja Oblak (WNBA) Teja Oblak<\/p>\n

#7<\/p>\n

Age: 35<\/p>\n

Position: Guard<\/p>\n

Height: 5\u20198\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Galatasaray (EuroLeague Women)<\/p>\n

Career highlight: In 2025, Oblak won the EuroLeague Women\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Oblak has a French bulldog named Cyril.<\/p>\n

\"\"Frieda B\u00fchner (WNBA) Frieda B\u00fchner<\/p>\n

#20<\/p>\n

Age: 21<\/p>\n

Position: Forward<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20192\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Rookie<\/p>\n

Career highlight: B\u00fchner made history at the 2024 Paris Olympics as the youngest player on the German national team in their debut Olympic appearance.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: B\u00fchner is one of just five Germans in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\"\"Sarah Ashlee Barker (WNBA) Sarah Ashlee Barker<\/p>\n

#3<\/p>\n

Age: 24<\/p>\n

Position: Guard<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20190\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Los Angeles Sparks<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Barker is one of five players in Alabama history to surpass 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 250 assists (during her career with the Crimson Tide).<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Before every game, Barker writes the same Bible verse, Isaiah 41:10, on her wrist.<\/p>\n

\"\"Karlie Samuelson (WNBA) Karlie Samuelson<\/p>\n

#44<\/p>\n

Age: 31<\/p>\n

Position: Guard<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20190\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n

Career highlight: In 2023, Samuelson ranked sixth in the WNBA in 3-point percentage at 42.6%. <\/p>\n

Fun fact: Samuelson played two seasons at Stanford with her older sister Bonnie, and played against her younger sister Katie Lou in the 2017 Final Four.<\/p>\n

\"\"Serah Williams (WNBA) Serah Williams<\/p>\n

#25<\/p>\n

Age: 22<\/p>\n

Position: Center<\/p>\n

Height: 6\u20194\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Rookie<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Williams was the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: Williams received the nickname \u201cBig Canada\u201d during her final season of college basketball at UConn, even though she is not from Canada.<\/p>\n

\"\"Holly Winterburn (WNBA) Holly Winterburn<\/p>\n

#77<\/p>\n

Age: 25<\/p>\n

Position: Guard<\/p>\n

Height: 5\u201911\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Rookie<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Winterburn won the FIBA EuroCup Women championship with the London Lions in 2024. <\/p>\n

Fun fact: Winterburn got her start as an athlete in English football, which she played for most of her childhood.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jordan Harrison (WNBA) Jordan Harrison<\/p>\n

#2<\/p>\n

Age: 22<\/p>\n

Position: Guard<\/p>\n

Height: 5\u20196\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous team: Rookie<\/p>\n

Career highlight: Harrison earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors at West Virginia University.<\/p>\n

Fun fact: At 5-foot-6, Harrison is one of the shortest players in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

Willamette Week\u2019s reporting has real-life impact that changes laws, forces action by civic leaders, and drives compromised politicians from public office. <\/p>\n

Support WW.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before you go any further in your journey to die-hard Portland Fire fandom, you need to know who\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-667620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}