The Portland Fire beat the Dream behind the hot shooting of Emily Engstler and Carla Leite
The second of the two 9:30 games was between the Portland Fire (15-23) and the Atlanta Dream (25-13). The Fire started hot, starting the game with a 13-3 run behind Emily Engstler. The Dream cut the lead to 17-14 thanks to buckets from Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard. The quarter closed on an 11-4 run thanks to continued hot shooting from the Fire, as they led 28-18 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter proved that the first quarter shooting was not a joke; the Fire grew their lead to 36-20 by the 6:40 mark. By the two-minute mark, the Fire led 50-31. The Dream closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to only trail 52-38 at halftime. 18 points for Emily Engstler and 15 points for Carla Leite.
The Dream opened the third quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to single digits; the score is now 56-47. Over the next four minutes, the score is at 63-55, looking more and more like a close game till the end. Back-to-back threes from Holly Winterburn extend the lead to 66-55. The Fire win the last two minutes and take a 71-64 lead into the fourth quarter.
It was a real back-and-forth quarter that saw the Fire grow their lead to 12 (88-76) around the half way point. The Fire just controlled the game from there and consistently held a double digit lead. An absolutely great night from them. The Fire won 101-83.
Carla Leite had 26 points and six assists on 9-13 shooting. Emily Engstler had 25 points and six rebounds on 11-14 shooting. Megan DiLeo had 16 points and five rebounds on 7-11 of shooting. Next up for the Fire is the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday night.
Rhyne Howard had 26 points and six rebounds. Angel Reese had 16 points and 16 rebounds. Three more players had double digits. Next up for the Dream is hosting the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday.
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