Fire Spoil Storm's 4th of July

Portland goes up 2-0 in this year's I-5 Rivalry.

(Seattle, WA) - The Portland Fire (9-12) played spoiler in Seattle on the 4th of July holiday weekend, as they came into the 206 and defeated the Storm (5-17) by a final score of 77-72. It wasn’t the prettiest game as both teams shot below 40% from the field and the two combined for 34 turnovers. The road team outscored the Storm by 17 points over the middle two periods in the game, which led to their victory.

Seattle had three players score in double figures. They were led by Dominique Malonga, who totaled 22 points in 19 minutes. She didn’t have the most efficient evening, shooting 7-17 FG from the floor. Dom’s minutes were severely limited in the first half due to picking up three fouls within five minutes of action.

Natisha Hiedeman contributed 15 points on 6-13 FG and led the Storm with four assists. Seattle dished out just 16 assists on Saturday night. The rookies really struggled in this one. Awa Fam scored 12 points, but it was her worst shooting performance of the season, as she shot 4-15 FG, including 2-8 FG from beyond the arc. That’s after she had been shooting better than 50% from 3-PT range in recent games. Flau’jae Johnson had the lowest point total of her early WNBA career. Johnson finished with just one point on 0-5 FG from the floor. She did not attempt a shot in the second half of the game. Johnson also took a hard fall in the final minutes of the game as Carla Leite dove on the ground and undercut Flau’jae’s legs. Coach Sonia Raman did not have any medical update on Johnson after the game.

The home team forced Portland into 20 turnovers and had five more steals in the game (14-9). They had a small advantage in points off turnovers (21-19) and fast break points (12-8). The Storm outshot the Fire from beyond the arc, and limited Portland to just 16% from long distance (4-25 FG), but Seattle still shot under 30% themselves (8-29 FG) from 3-PT range.

Portland Fire

Portland was led by second-year point guard Carla Leite. She finished with a team-high 20 points on 4-8 FG. More impressively, she was a perfect 12-12 FT from the foul line. Bridget Carleton added 14 points and seven rebounds, but surprisingly went just 1-6 FG from deep. Megan Gustafson was the only other Fire player to score in double figures, and nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Emily Engstler and Frieda Buhner each added nine points. They combined for 18 points and 15 rebounds. Buhner gave Portland some great minutes off the bench in this game, and helped the Fire outscore Seattle’s reserves 20-17.

While both teams struggled with their offense, PDX was slightly better, shooting 37% (25-68 FG) compared to Seattle’s 34% (24-71 FG). More importantly, Portland dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Storm 47-31. That included a 10-6 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 14-11 edge in second-chance points. The road team also had a larger impact at the foul line, where they were a +7 points and made 23-25 FT compared to Seattle, which hit 16-18 FT.

Game Breakdown

Jade Melbourne knocked down a three-pointer to open up the game’s scoring. Bridget Carleton was fouled on a jumper and made both free throws. Carleton knocked down a midrange jumper to put Portland ahead 4-3. Dominique Malonga collected an offensive rebound and scored with her left hand. Emily Engstler gathered a loose ball and was fouled by Malonga. Natisha Hiedeman got into the lane for a pull-up jumper. Frieda Buhner used a strong drive to the paint for the score. Ezi Magbegor found Awa Fam cutting to the rim for two. Flau’jae Johnson got a steal and fed the ball up to Hiedeman for the transition layup. That put the Storm ahead 11-8 before the first TV timeout.

Both teams went cold for a couple of minutes, but Hiedeman got the Storm going again with an And-1 in the lane. Then Seattle got another steal that resulted in a transition layup for Hiedeman. Jade Melbourne got a deflection and raced through traffic to put two more on the board. Holly Winterburn was fouled at the end of the quarter and added two more from the line. The Storm led 20-10 through the first 10 minutes.

The Portland Fire used an 8-0 run to open up the second quarter. Malonga quickly picked up her third foul of the game by reaching in against a driving Carla Leite. Leite finished the layup and the And-1 opportunity. Engstler knocked down a three-pointer, then scored in transition with a leading pass from Sarah Ashlee Barker. That cut Seattle’s double-digit lead down to two points at 20-18, and forced Storm Coach Raman to call a timeout.

Flau’jae split two free throws for Seattle’s first point in the second quarter, three minutes into the period. Ashlee Barker scored in transition after Johnson turned it over. Carla Leite had another And-1 with a nice pull-up jumper. That gave the Fire the lead at 23-21. Katie Lou Samuelson was fouled and made two from the line. Johnson then used dribble penetration to draw the defense in, where she found Magbegor at the rim for the easy lay. Teja Oblak scored a three for Portland, but Hiedeman immediately answered for Seattle. Oblak gathered an offensive rebound and finished quickly with the putback. That tied the game back up at 28-28 with 2:30 left in the first half.

Engstler and Barker added four quick points to give Portland the lead. Awa Fam was fouled trying to gather the offensive rebound. She added two points from the line. At halftime, Portland led 32-30. The Fire outscored the Storm 22-10 in the second quarter. They out-rebounded Seattle 25-17 through the first 20 minutes. Both teams struggled with their shooting. Seattle made 33% (11-33 FG) compared to Portland’s 30% (11-37 FG).

Carla Leite scored back-to-back And-1 plays for the Fire to start the second half. Dom Malonga scored inside the paint. Awa Fam knocked down a three-pointer, then Malonga added an And-1 after Leite’s second three-point play. Megan Gustafson added a shot from beyond the arc. Ezi got a big block and then led her own fast break, where she scored at the rim. Buhner tacked on two more after grabbing an offensive rebound to put the Fire ahead by three, forcing Coach Raman into another timeout.

Out of the timeout, Fam missed a three-point shot, and Buhner added one more point from the line. Frieda scored again to put Portland ahead 46-40. Katie Lou answered with her first triple of the game. Winterburn scored on a tough drive into the paint. Buhner continued her strong quarter with another basket with the assist from Winterburn. After a missed Dolson three-pointer, Carla Leite was fouled and made both shots from the charity stripe.

Buhner and Leite combined for 15 of the Fire’s 22 points in the third period. As they outscored Seattle 22-17 in the quarter. Portland took a 54-47 lead as the two teams looked to enter the final frame.

Malonga scored at the rim to open up the fourth quarter. Bridget Carleton drilled her first three-pointer of the game after six attempts. Zia Cooke and Carla Leite exchanged a pair of free throws on each end. After two free throws from Malonga, Leite found Gustafson rolling to the rim for two off the pick-and-roll.

Awa knocked down a corner three to cut Seattle’s deficit to three at 61-58. The Fire quickly responded with a Nyadiew Puoch layup and an And-1 by Carleton. Both teams went a couple of minutes without scoring. Hiedeman broke up the scoreless streak with a three-ball that reduced Portland’s lead to five.

Dom was fouled on an offensive rebound and made both. Seattle gave up multiple offensive rebounds, and on Portland’s third try, Carleton scored. Malonga split two free throws, but Seattle was able to get the ball back, and Dom added a triple to cut Portland’s lead to four at 71-67 with 43 seconds left in the game. On the made three-point basket, Zia Cooke was called for a loose-ball foul. That sent Carla Leite back to the line where she added two more.

Seattle had a couple more chances, but they were unable to convert. They were forced to foul, and Leite extended the lead from the line. Malonga knocked down another three-pointer, but it was too late as the Fire led by multiple possessions with under 12 seconds to play. The Storm were unable to overcome their poor middle periods in the second and third quarters as they dropped the game 77-72.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Seattle Storm (5-17) are headed out on a five-game road trip over the next two weeks. Next up, they travel to Los Angeles, where they will go up against the LA Sparks (8-10) on Monday, July 6th at 7:00 PM. Los Angeles beat Seattle 88-83 in a hard-fought contest back on June 10th in Seattle. That game went down to the wire with the Sparks pulling out the win in the final two minutes. This one will be interesting because the Sparks are expected to be without both Kelsey Plum and Cameron Brink. Both players are dealing with lower leg injuries currently. The two combined for 34 points in LA’s win back in June.

Notes:
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Photography Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography
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