The Portland Fire defeated the Seattle Storm 84-82 on Friday night, completing a four-game season sweep. Holly Winterburn led the Fire with a season-high 20 points, including 18 in the first half. Bridget Carleton contributed 14 points and nine rebounds for Portland, while Carla Leite and Megan DiLeo each added 14 points.
Portland built a substantial early advantage, extending their lead to 79-66 after Karlie Samuelson’s three-pointer with 5:20 remaining. However, the Fire struggled offensively down the stretch, failing to score until Emily Engstler’s layup with just over two minutes left made it 82-75. Seattle mounted a late comeback attempt, with Natisha Hiedeman’s three-pointer with 6.2 seconds left cutting the deficit to one, but her final three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Winterburn, playing approximately 21 minutes off the bench, made 8 of 14 field goal attempts while also recording seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. The performance was particularly impressive considering Winterburn entered the game with only 49 career WNBA points after missing the previous season due to injury.
For Seattle, rookie Awa Fam led the way with 20 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Ezi Magbegor scored 13 points, while Jordan Horston and Jade Melbourne each added 12. Leading scorer Dominique Malonga struggled, recording just nine points on 3-of-15 shooting, though she grabbed 12 rebounds.
Originally reported by Sports.yahoo →
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