05/27/26 11:30:00
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05/27 23:28 CDT Leite scores 20 and the Fire win third straight with 71-61
victory over the Sun
Leite scores 20 and the Fire win third straight with 71-61 victory over the Sun
By ANNE M. PETERSON
AP Sports Writer
PORTLAND, Ore (AP) --- Carla Leite scored 20 points and the expansion Portland
Fire won their third straight game with a 71-61 victory over the Connecticut
Sun on Wednesday night.
Bridget Carleton added 13 points for the Fire, who were coming off road
victories over the Toronto Tempo and the New York Liberty.
Aneesah Moorow had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Sun, who have just one win
to open the season. The game was the last of a five-game trip that started with
an 83-82 loss to the Fire in Portland.
The Sun led 55-50 with 8:04 left in the game but Portland's Teja Oblak answered
with a pair of baskets to get to 55-54 and the Fire pulled back in front on
Frieda Buhner's layup.
Buhner added a layup to make it 58-55 with 4:25 left and Portland led the rest
of the way.
The Sun were 0 for 13 from the perimeter in the first half. Morrow hit
Connecticut's first 3-pointer with 8:23 left in the third quarter, closing the
gap to 39-32.
The Sun pulled within 43-42 on Olivia Nelson-Ododa's basket then took the lead
on Morrow's layup and the game was tied at 50 going into the final quarter.
Brittney Griner, who led the Sun with 16 points in the previous meeting with
the Fire, was not available because of right rib injury. Griner remains a point
away from 6,000 career points.
Suns center Aaliyah Edwards went down with 5:02 left in the opening quarter
after it appeared that Sarah Ashlee Barker knocked her in the face. Barker was
handed a flagrant foul but Edwards missed both free throws. Shortly thereafter
Edwards left the game with what the team said was a nose injury.
Up next
The Sun will play the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday at Peoples Bank Arena in
Hartford, the team's first game in the city since 2003.
The Fire host the Atlanta Dream on Friday night.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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