PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Jackie Stiles had 24 points and Sophia
Witherspoon scored nine points in overtime as the Portland Fire
beat the Charlotte Sting 66-62 Friday night.
Witherspoon, who converted five free throws in overtime,
finished with 12 points for the Fire (6-2). Kristin Folkl had two
of her seven points and two of her six rebounds in the extra
period.
"My teammates kept us in it," said Witherspoon, who went
scoreless in the second half. "I felt I owed it to my team to do
something to put us in position to win."
Dawn Staley scored 14 points for Charlotte (1-9), which lost its sixth consecutive game. Allison Feaster added 13 points, and Andrea Stinson had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
After Stiles missed a 3-pointer, Sylvia Crawley grabbed the
rebound and dished to Folkl. Folkl found Witherspoon for an open
layup as the Fire took a 56-55 lead 49 seconds into overtime.
Folkl added a short jumper and Witherspoon went to the line on
two consecutive possessions, the second after being fouled by Stinson
on a 3-pointer. Witherspoon converted all of her free throws to
give the Fire a 62-57 lead.
Feaster countered with a quick 3-pointer as the Sting closed
to 63-60, but Witherspoon hit a fade-away bank shot that put
the game out of reach.
Stiles, who had 13 of her career-high 24 in the first half, went scoreless down the stretch as the Sting double-teamed.
"Toward the end of the game, they made it really hard for me to get a catch," Stiles said. "That's something I need to work
on, getting open.
"Tully did a really good job of passing to me early. That
really got me in a rhythm."
The Sting led most of the second half, but Folkl hit a 3-pointer
with 1:17 left in regulation to cut Portland's deficit to three
points, 54-51.
Staley missed a pair of 3-pointers, and Tamicha Jackson hit a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining to tie the game at 54 and
force overtime.
Stacey Thomas stole Charlotte's inbounds pass, but missed a
layup as time expired in regulation.
"Last year, we got in positions like this and didn't win
games," Witherspoon said. "This year, we got over that hump. We
got a taste of what it's like to win and want to stay on top." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Charlotte team page
Portland team page
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