- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,268,905
- Reaction score
- 59
Carla Leïte scored 27 points with 11 assists, and the Portland Fire beat the Toronto Tempo 97-83 on Thursday night at Moda Center to end a five-game losing streak.
Leïte shot 5-of-12 from the field with two 3-pointers and went 15-of-17 at the free-throw line. Her 15 made free throws set a Fire single-game record. It was her sixth double-double of the season, tying her for the second-most by a guard in the WNBA this year.
Megan DiLeo added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 2 blocks. Bridget Carleton finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her second career double-double and her second in a row. Frieda Bühner scored 10 points off the bench, all of them in the first half. She shot 4-of-7 with two 3-pointers.
Eight ties and six lead changes came in the opening quarter, and Portland led 25-23 after DiLeo scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Bühner's 3-pointer with 3:29 left in the second quarter put the Fire ahead 45-35 for their first double-digit lead. Leïte closed the half with a step-back jumper with 1.7 seconds on the clock for a 51-37 lead.
Portland scored 30 points in the third quarter. Karlie Samuelson's 3-pointer with 1:26 left made it 79-52, the largest margin of the night at 27. The Fire took an 81-59 lead into the fourth.
Fire coach Alex Sarama said one layup Portland took with 18 seconds on the shot clock would go into the team's next film session.
"I thought lots of good things tonight which stood out," Sarama said. "I think it started really with the offensive execution to get to the spacings we identified in the game plan. I thought we got to those isolations really well. I think the first two was a little bit slower than I would've liked in terms of the recognition of the iso and the matchups that we wanted.
"But I felt we got so much better as the game went on there. And that's good. That's something that we wanna kind of have as part of our identity in terms of exposing defenses and getting the high-value shots that we want in those isolation situations. So they did a really good job as a group of that.
"I think no overreactions needed in the fourth. I think credit to Toronto, they really stepped up defensively, and that's what allowed them to get back in the game. They really just upped the bar completely defensively. I think it just caught us off guard a little bit as a group, but that's good for our young players to go through that experience and they're gonna watch those minutes back on tape and learn from it.
"And I didn't think it was anything that necessarily was like huge errors in that three-minute stretch. It was just, we were taking good shots. We weren't making them and they were just making threes. So yeah, we made a work of it in the end but still, a good win for us and it's nice to get back in the win column."
Toronto outscored Portland 24-16 in the fourth quarter. The Fire shot 4-of-14 in the period and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Aneesah Morrow's putback with 3:08 left cut the deficit to 91-83. DiLeo answered with a turnaround hook at 2:43 and a cutting layup at 1:38, and Leïte made two free throws with 58.3 seconds remaining.
Julie Allemand said Toronto cannot win with five players and needs everyone ready to play from the beginning.
"I mean, I think we were just aggressive and, I don't know, we showed up finally, I would say," Allemand said. "Because the first 30 minutes, we were not ready to play. We were just passive the whole time and we just had like maybe one stop and then one score, and we just needed like some energy.
"And yeah, that five was working, but we need everyone. We cannot win only with five players. We need everyone to be ready to play from the beginning, and like we said in the locker room, the start of the game wasn't good enough and the third quarter wasn't good enough. So we need to look at ourselves first in the mirror, and we just need to be tougher."
Allemand finished with 11 points and 12 assists on 4-of-5 shooting with three 3-pointers. Nyara Sabally led Toronto with 17 points and 5 rebounds and went 6-of-7 at the line. Laura Juškaitė had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Morrow came off the bench for 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals in her second game with Toronto, after her debut Tuesday against Golden State.
Toronto shot 40.3% (29-of-72) from the field and made 9-of-31 from 3-point range. The Tempo went 16-of-24 at the line and outrebounded Portland 36-33.
Marina Mabrey scored 9 points on 3-of-9 shooting in 21:57. Nyadiew Puoch drew the assignment on Mabrey for much of the night.
Sarama said Puoch's block on a Mabrey 3-point attempt in the third quarter was the play of the night, and that Puoch navigated the screen and used her length to contest it.
"Yeah, that was actually something I kind of really thought would be good for us when I was interviewing, going for this job," Sarama explained. "I call it just special player defense. I think there's a lot of unique offensive talents in this league, and just watching the league, I felt like coming into this there was an opportunity to do some more disruptive things to unique offensive players, as opposed to just kind of staying in your base covers and letting them go off.
"So of course, there's still been times where we're trying to disrupt and great players score, and they still get 20-plus points. But to your point, I think there's been some really good games this year where we have taken on the assignments and executed what we want in terms of just how we're disrupting — like denying off the ball, no catches single pass away. Like, complete face guard, double teams and the details of the blitzes.
"And then you pair that with what we do offensively to try and tire players down. I think all of those have combined to be a good factor for us in terms of when we're playing these unique offensive talents."
Puoch, who is 22, finished with 6 points, 2 steals, and a block in 16:55 and passed 100 career points.
Leïte said she played more shooting guard in college and has had to adapt to a different role at point guard this season.
"I mean, it's not perfect," Leïte said. "I have to find a good balance between score for me and create for the others. I'm talking a lot with my coaches about that. But I mean, I don't really care. I just wanna win games, and we did that tonight, so that's perfect."
Leïte has scored at least 20 points in three straight games, and Thursday was her third 20-point double-double of the season. She had 20 points through three quarters. Leïte shot 8-of-9 from the free-throw line over the first three periods and 7-of-8 in the fourth.
Jordan Harrison scored a career-high 8 points in 10:56 off the bench. She made 2-of-3 from 3-point range, both on step-backs, and had 4 assists with 2 steals. The first of those steals was the first of her career.
Sarama said Harrison has grown as a player and that the off-the-dribble 3-pointers were not part of her game at the start of the season.
Harrison said hearing the crowd during a timeout was surreal and that she tried not to smile.
"Yeah, I mean, it's definitely great," Harrison said. "I love supporting my teammates, but I do be itching to get back on the floor and play with them.
"So yeah, it was great. It was exciting and I just stay ready, so yeah."
Toronto committed 17 turnovers that Portland turned into 21 points. The Fire had 16 turnovers, and the Tempo scored 17 points off them.
Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said Toronto should have gotten more aggressive earlier on defense and that Portland hunted its weaker defenders into scramble situations.
"We just have to have more discipline, and we spoke about that," Brondello said. "How we come out with our mindset — we have to be a little mentally tougher... Yeah, so that's the disappointing part. We had 6 in that first quarter and it didn't get us off to a great start. So yeah, we're going to have to maybe simplify things. Keep it very simple."
Portland shot 50% (33-of-66) from the field and 11-of-27 from 3-point range. The Fire went 20-of-24 at the line.
The win was Portland's 12th of the season and the second-most in a single season in franchise history. The original Fire went 37-59 across three seasons from 2000 to 2002 and finished 16-16 in the final year before folding.
Portland improved to 12-19. The Fire had lost five in a row, a run that included a 98-83 loss at Las Vegas on July 28. Portland won the first meeting between the two expansion teams 99-80 in Toronto on May 23.
Toronto fell to 10-21. The Tempo have lost eight in a row and 12 of 13. The announced attendance was 12,379.
Toronto played without Brittney Sykes, who has a left foot injury. Portland was without Sarah Ashlee Barker and Teja Oblak, both with left knee injuries. Luisa Geiselsöder did not play by coach's decision.
Portland hosts the Seattle Storm on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT at Moda Center. Toronto plays at the Atlanta Dream on Monday.
Continue reading...
Leïte shot 5-of-12 from the field with two 3-pointers and went 15-of-17 at the free-throw line. Her 15 made free throws set a Fire single-game record. It was her sixth double-double of the season, tying her for the second-most by a guard in the WNBA this year.
Megan DiLeo added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 2 blocks. Bridget Carleton finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her second career double-double and her second in a row. Frieda Bühner scored 10 points off the bench, all of them in the first half. She shot 4-of-7 with two 3-pointers.
Eight ties and six lead changes came in the opening quarter, and Portland led 25-23 after DiLeo scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Bühner's 3-pointer with 3:29 left in the second quarter put the Fire ahead 45-35 for their first double-digit lead. Leïte closed the half with a step-back jumper with 1.7 seconds on the clock for a 51-37 lead.
Portland scored 30 points in the third quarter. Karlie Samuelson's 3-pointer with 1:26 left made it 79-52, the largest margin of the night at 27. The Fire took an 81-59 lead into the fourth.
Fire coach Alex Sarama said one layup Portland took with 18 seconds on the shot clock would go into the team's next film session.
"I thought lots of good things tonight which stood out," Sarama said. "I think it started really with the offensive execution to get to the spacings we identified in the game plan. I thought we got to those isolations really well. I think the first two was a little bit slower than I would've liked in terms of the recognition of the iso and the matchups that we wanted.
"But I felt we got so much better as the game went on there. And that's good. That's something that we wanna kind of have as part of our identity in terms of exposing defenses and getting the high-value shots that we want in those isolation situations. So they did a really good job as a group of that.
"I think no overreactions needed in the fourth. I think credit to Toronto, they really stepped up defensively, and that's what allowed them to get back in the game. They really just upped the bar completely defensively. I think it just caught us off guard a little bit as a group, but that's good for our young players to go through that experience and they're gonna watch those minutes back on tape and learn from it.
"And I didn't think it was anything that necessarily was like huge errors in that three-minute stretch. It was just, we were taking good shots. We weren't making them and they were just making threes. So yeah, we made a work of it in the end but still, a good win for us and it's nice to get back in the win column."
Toronto outscored Portland 24-16 in the fourth quarter. The Fire shot 4-of-14 in the period and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. Aneesah Morrow's putback with 3:08 left cut the deficit to 91-83. DiLeo answered with a turnaround hook at 2:43 and a cutting layup at 1:38, and Leïte made two free throws with 58.3 seconds remaining.
Julie Allemand said Toronto cannot win with five players and needs everyone ready to play from the beginning.
"I mean, I think we were just aggressive and, I don't know, we showed up finally, I would say," Allemand said. "Because the first 30 minutes, we were not ready to play. We were just passive the whole time and we just had like maybe one stop and then one score, and we just needed like some energy.
"And yeah, that five was working, but we need everyone. We cannot win only with five players. We need everyone to be ready to play from the beginning, and like we said in the locker room, the start of the game wasn't good enough and the third quarter wasn't good enough. So we need to look at ourselves first in the mirror, and we just need to be tougher."
Allemand finished with 11 points and 12 assists on 4-of-5 shooting with three 3-pointers. Nyara Sabally led Toronto with 17 points and 5 rebounds and went 6-of-7 at the line. Laura Juškaitė had 12 points and 6 rebounds. Morrow came off the bench for 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals in her second game with Toronto, after her debut Tuesday against Golden State.
Toronto shot 40.3% (29-of-72) from the field and made 9-of-31 from 3-point range. The Tempo went 16-of-24 at the line and outrebounded Portland 36-33.
Marina Mabrey scored 9 points on 3-of-9 shooting in 21:57. Nyadiew Puoch drew the assignment on Mabrey for much of the night.
Sarama said Puoch's block on a Mabrey 3-point attempt in the third quarter was the play of the night, and that Puoch navigated the screen and used her length to contest it.
"Yeah, that was actually something I kind of really thought would be good for us when I was interviewing, going for this job," Sarama explained. "I call it just special player defense. I think there's a lot of unique offensive talents in this league, and just watching the league, I felt like coming into this there was an opportunity to do some more disruptive things to unique offensive players, as opposed to just kind of staying in your base covers and letting them go off.
"So of course, there's still been times where we're trying to disrupt and great players score, and they still get 20-plus points. But to your point, I think there's been some really good games this year where we have taken on the assignments and executed what we want in terms of just how we're disrupting — like denying off the ball, no catches single pass away. Like, complete face guard, double teams and the details of the blitzes.
"And then you pair that with what we do offensively to try and tire players down. I think all of those have combined to be a good factor for us in terms of when we're playing these unique offensive talents."
Puoch, who is 22, finished with 6 points, 2 steals, and a block in 16:55 and passed 100 career points.
Leïte said she played more shooting guard in college and has had to adapt to a different role at point guard this season.
"I mean, it's not perfect," Leïte said. "I have to find a good balance between score for me and create for the others. I'm talking a lot with my coaches about that. But I mean, I don't really care. I just wanna win games, and we did that tonight, so that's perfect."
Leïte has scored at least 20 points in three straight games, and Thursday was her third 20-point double-double of the season. She had 20 points through three quarters. Leïte shot 8-of-9 from the free-throw line over the first three periods and 7-of-8 in the fourth.
Jordan Harrison scored a career-high 8 points in 10:56 off the bench. She made 2-of-3 from 3-point range, both on step-backs, and had 4 assists with 2 steals. The first of those steals was the first of her career.
Sarama said Harrison has grown as a player and that the off-the-dribble 3-pointers were not part of her game at the start of the season.
Harrison said hearing the crowd during a timeout was surreal and that she tried not to smile.
"Yeah, I mean, it's definitely great," Harrison said. "I love supporting my teammates, but I do be itching to get back on the floor and play with them.
"So yeah, it was great. It was exciting and I just stay ready, so yeah."
Toronto committed 17 turnovers that Portland turned into 21 points. The Fire had 16 turnovers, and the Tempo scored 17 points off them.
Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said Toronto should have gotten more aggressive earlier on defense and that Portland hunted its weaker defenders into scramble situations.
"We just have to have more discipline, and we spoke about that," Brondello said. "How we come out with our mindset — we have to be a little mentally tougher... Yeah, so that's the disappointing part. We had 6 in that first quarter and it didn't get us off to a great start. So yeah, we're going to have to maybe simplify things. Keep it very simple."
Portland shot 50% (33-of-66) from the field and 11-of-27 from 3-point range. The Fire went 20-of-24 at the line.
The win was Portland's 12th of the season and the second-most in a single season in franchise history. The original Fire went 37-59 across three seasons from 2000 to 2002 and finished 16-16 in the final year before folding.
Portland improved to 12-19. The Fire had lost five in a row, a run that included a 98-83 loss at Las Vegas on July 28. Portland won the first meeting between the two expansion teams 99-80 in Toronto on May 23.
Toronto fell to 10-21. The Tempo have lost eight in a row and 12 of 13. The announced attendance was 12,379.
Toronto played without Brittney Sykes, who has a left foot injury. Portland was without Sarah Ashlee Barker and Teja Oblak, both with left knee injuries. Luisa Geiselsöder did not play by coach's decision.
Portland hosts the Seattle Storm on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT at Moda Center. Toronto plays at the Atlanta Dream on Monday.
Continue reading...
