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Wednesday, Jul. 19 7:00pm ET
Sol shines brighter than fellow newcomer Fire | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Miami Sol claimed the unofficial title of the WNBA's best expansion team as Katrina Colleton scored 19 points and Kristen Rasmussen added a career-high 17 in a 69-62 victory Wednesday over the Portland Fire. Both first-year franchises came in with seven wins and Portland was considered a bit better, having earned most of its victories in the tougher Western Conference. However, Miami took the lead for good with a 13-0 run midway through the first half and fought off Portland with a late surge to snap a two-game losing streak. "I don't consider it a pat on the back," said Sol coach Ron Rothstein, who also was the first coach for the NBA's Miami Heat. "It's just another game against another team and every time you step on the floor you want to win." "Of course it's great, but it's only one win," Rasmussen added. "It's another expansion team, so there's a little competition." The Sol won despite 37 percent (18-of-49) shooting and just nine points from their starting frontcourt. They held the Fire's starters to 25 points and leading scorer Sophia Witherspoon to nine points, more than eight below her average. Reserve DeMya Walker scored 12 points for Portland, which fell to 3-8 on the road as it began a four-game trip. "Obviously, I'm very disappointed with our performance," Portland coach Linda Hargrove said. "We're playing pretty well right before the break, but we came out with no intensity. Our starter really didn't contribute at all. It was basically players off the bench who came in and did a pretty decent job for us." Walker's eight-footer gave the Fire a 14-10 lead with 11:22 to play in the first half before the Sol scored the next 13 points. Milena Flores had six of her nine during the surge and a basket by Colleton made it 23-14 with 5:22 remaining. Despite Witherspoon's struggles, Portland closed to 36-31 at halftime and inched within 45-44 with 6:47 to play on two free throws by Michelle Marciniak, who scored 11 points off the bench. However, Miami responded with an 11-2 burst. Rasmussen scored four points, including two free throws that extended the advantage to 56-46 with 3:19 to go. "Everyone came together, which we needed after the past couple of games," Rasmussen said. "I'm a little more comfortable being here now." The Fire tried to get back in the game by fouling, but the Sol made 20-of-30 free throws in the final five minutes. Overall, Miami made 31-of-44 foul shots as Rasmussen was 11-of-12 and Colleton 9-of-12. "Obviously, they fouled us," Rothstein said. "There were three or four minutes left when they started fouling us. Linda made up her mind that we were going to have to win from the foul line, and we did. I applaud her strategy. You don't give up anything easy." Alisa Burras scored 10 points for the Fire, who shot 42 percent (24-of-57), made only 11-of-19 free throws and committed 22 turnovers. | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Miami 69 Portland 62
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