Short-handed Fire\u2019s fourth-quarter rally falls short in narrow loss to Dallas Wings <\/p>\n
Late-game magic wasn\u2019t enough to push the Portland Fire (11-16) past the Dallas Wings (18-9) at the Moda Center on Wednesday evening, falling 101-97 in the team\u2019s final action before the all-star break. <\/p>\n
The WNBA upstarts head into the break with a 3-7 record over their last 10 games. Head coach Alex Sarama\u2019s postgame press conference was a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand, the league\u2019s youngest coach says he\u2019s proud of how his team continued to battle their way into games. On the other, no one enjoys losing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just can\u2019t fault the group\u2019s effort and, you know, I feel like a broken record,\u201d Sarama said. \u201cWe gave everything we could tonight\u2026 In games like this, I feel like it\u2019s the same themes of two weaknesses. It\u2019s defensive rebounding and our containment in one-on-one (matchups).\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2018S-A-B, S-A-B\u2019<\/p>\n
Portland stormed out to an 11-3 lead midway through the first quarter before an injury took the wind out of the team\u2019s sails. Sarah Ashlee Barker<\/a>, the Fire\u2019s starting shooting guard and \u201cheart and soul\u201d of the team, exited Wednesday\u2019s contest four minutes into the first quarter. <\/p>\n Barker made her presence felt on the court in her brief stint, scoring two points, grabbing three rebounds and dishing a pair of assists. After dishing out a pass to teammate Frieda Buhner on the wing, Barker collapsed to the baseline grabbing her left leg. <\/p>\n She did not return, though a 17,206-person crowd gave her an encouraging send-off, chanting \u201cS-A-B, S-A-B\u201d as she was helped off the court. Sarama had no update on Barker\u2019s status postgame. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge blow, just because of what (she) brings as the heart and soul of the group,\u201d Sarama said. \u201cIt\u2019s pending evaluation of our performance teams. So as soon as they\u2019re able to get a good look, we\u2019ll know more.\u201d <\/p>\n Barker has been a breakout star for the first-year Fire, averaging 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 15 starts this season. She\u2019s a 50% shooter from the field, 40% from behind the arc and, in Sarama\u2019s words, \u201cone of the better point-of-attack defenders\u201d in the sport. <\/p>\n Wings dominate boards to open up perimeter shooting<\/p>\n Dallas went on a 16-4 run to close out the first quarter and led by as many as six points midway through the second.<\/p>\n Though the Wings\u2019 pair of No. 1-overall draft picks \u2014 UConn guards Paige Bueckers (21 pts) and Azzi Fudd (11 pts) \u2014 ate up the attention from fans (Portland fans were the clear majority, but Bueckers jerseys dotted every section of Moda), Dallas won the game on the glass. The Wings out-rebounded Portland 35-22, including a 9-3 advantage on the offensive boards. <\/p>\n Dallas forward Jessica Shepard dominated the boxscore wire-to-wire, finishing with an 18-point, 15-rebound,10-assist triple-double. Shephard contributed almost half of Dallas\u2019 35 boards and ran the game like a point guard, finding Bueckers, Fudd and bench guard Arike Ogunbowale (24 pts) for open looks on the perimeter with Portland\u2019s defense collapsing down. <\/p>\n Bueckers, Fudd and Ogunbowale combined to shoot 48% (19-of-39) from the field and 50% (10-of-20) from 3-point depth. <\/p>\n A career-best and a career moment <\/p>\n Playing catch up with the sharpshooting Wings most of the night and suddenly shorthanded, Portland had little margin for error. Forward Frieda Buhner (15 pts) and center Megan DiLeo (21 pts) gave them that much. <\/p>\n It was a career-night for both, with Buhner scoring a career-high on lights-out shooting (83% FG, 100% 3-pt) and DiLeo (formerly Gustafson) playing her first game after her July 18 wedding. <\/p>\n