BEAVERTON, Ore. (KPTV) – The Portland Fire held practice at the Nike campus ahead of their next game against the reigning WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n
The 44-game WNBA regular season is full of ebbs and flows, and right now the Fire have hit a low with a three-game losing skid as three teams with the best records in the West are next on the schedule.<\/p>\n
The only way to get through it is to just do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love this campus here. It\u2019s also just, like, the innovation side of Nike. We could access to some really cool, interesting people being around here,\u201d said head coach Alex Sarama.<\/p>\n
The Portland Fire are practice nomads until their facility in Hillsboro opens up this August. In the meantime, Nike will do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had never been here before,\u201d said Karlie Samuelson. \u201cWe practiced the other week, so it is nice. I mean, you guys see it, the beautiful, natural lighting in here, and just the vibe is great. It\u2019s really special to be in Portland, like where the Nike headquarters are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back-to-back days in Beaverton has been the most work the team has had together between games in awhile.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of funny, we were all talking about it,\u201d Megan Gustafson said. \u201cWe were like, this is the first practice we\u2019ve had, like three weeks an actual practice, and having a couple of them has been really good, especially because we\u2019ve had a couple losses now. And I think we need this time to just get back to court with basketball. What we\u2019re good at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gustafson earned a championship ring with Las Vegas last season after two years of backing up the league MVP, A\u2019ja Wilson.<\/p>\n
She now has a starting role in Portland and the defending WNBA champs roll into the Rose City.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have lots of love for A\u2019ja and Vegas, so, definitely gonna be a challenge, obviously,\u201d Gustafson said. \u201cShe\u2019s the best player in the world for reason, so we\u2019re gonna try our best, and we\u2019re gonna come up with a good, just touch the game plan, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarama\u2019s game plans are up against as these Commissioner\u2019s Cup games are coming hit after hit.<\/p>\n
Vegas will be followed by the Dallas Wings in town on Saturday before a Monday trip to Minnesota to face the Lynx. All three are at the top of the standings in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the WNBA, teams go on eight game win streaks, eight game losing streaks, Samuelson said. \u201dIt depends on who\u2019s healthy, it depends on who you play in those streaks. Obviously, we got some good teams coming up, so, yeah it\u2019s about getting better ourselves. So, wins and losses, yes, but we just gotta stay the course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Portland returns to the Fire Pit on Thursday against the Aces in a game you can watch on Rose City SportsNet at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
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