A good day for the WNBA’s expansion twins and a little help from the next team set to change the makeup of the league’s membership translated to a perfect day for home teams, who went 3-0 on Saturday. Here’s how it went down:
Portland Fire 100, Indiana Fever 84
The Fire held Indiana without a field goal for nearly a full quarter starting from the 7:20 mark of the first quarter, jumping out to a 29-15 lead to end that frame and never looking back. Portland led by 26 points early in the fourth quarter (90-64) before Indiana finished on a 20-10 run to superficially improve the margin, but make no mistake, the Fire took the Fever to the woodshed despite playing for the second straight night (Indiana had last played on Thursday). Megan Gustafson led the Fire with 22 points on a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, outshining fellow former Iowa star and D-I scoring leader Caitlin Clark, who had a season-low 6 points on 1-for-7 from the field, 6 assists and, to her credit, just 1 turnover. Portland also got 16 points from emerging two-way star and the WNBA’s blocks leader Emily Engstler to go with 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 more swats to add to her total while Bridget Carleton returned from a one-game absence with 14 points, 3 steals and a pair of blocks. You know I also can’t do a Fire recap without telling you that Sarah Ashlee Barker scored 15 points including a pair of 3-pointers late in the third and early in the fourth quarters to help put the game out of reach, as well as 6 rebounds and 4 assists, in a season-high 28 minutes. They gave me more Sarah Ashlee Barker, and in response, I have another request: more Sarah Ashlee Barker, please! The Fire won four the fourth time in five games since a 2-3 start, and they’re now 5-0 when holding opponents to offensive ratings under 104 points per 100 possessions (Indiana posted a mark of 102.4 tonight) compared to 1-4 when allowing marks of 104+.
The Fever dropped their second straight since a three-game win streak, falling to .500 for the third time in four opportunities this season. They’re off until hosting Atlanta on Thursday night to kick off a stretch of three games in five days to start Commissioner’s Cup play, with trips to New York and Washington after facing the Dream.
Toronto Tempo 93, Seattle Storm 72
Toronto outscored Seattle 56-36 after halftime in a rematch of its first-ever win earlier this month, also making a little bit of history in this one (although not quite the coolest history they could’ve made). The Tempo made their first 31 free throws in the rout, the most consecutive makes to start a WNBA game, but Teonni Key’s 0-for-2 trip to the line in the final minute denied them the best overall free throw shooting performance (the 2003 Los Angeles Sparks and 2001 Portland Fire each went 27-for-27 in a game). Marina Mabrey led the Tempo with 18 points while Kiki Rice scored 17 points while going a team-best 9-for-9 at the line and coming away with 4 steals (her fourth time having multiple steals in the last five games). With the win, Toronto matched its expansion sisters in Portland and several of the 1998-2000 WNBA expansion teams for the best nine-game start in league history.
Seattle got 18 points from Natisha Hiedeman, who has had at least that many in four of her last six games, while Jordan Horston had 15 points for her first double-digit outing of the season. No other Storm player scored more than 8 points as Seattle fell for the fifth time in seven games.
Connecticut Sun 84, Los Angeles Sparks 81
The Sparks came up short in their second game in a 23-hour span, essentially trading baskets with the lowly Sun for 40 minutes en route to just their second loss in six games since an 0-2 start. LA fell to 1-1 without Kelsey Plum, who suffered an ankle injury in practice this week and is likely out for at least one more game (she was said to be out “at least a week,” with LA’s next game coming on Tuesday). The Sparks had an offensive rating of 97.4 points per 100 possessions in the loss, falling to 0-3 this season when held to an offensive rating under 110 and snapping of a five-game streak with ratings at least that high. The Sun snapped a three-game skid while earning their second win this season and first home win, although they were in Hartford and not their soon-to-be former dump home in the basement of Mohegan Sun.