Expansion Portland outlasts winless Sun to secure second victory

Guard Hailey Van Lith #2 of the Connecticut Sun dribbles the ball up court during the first half of Monday’s WNBA game against the Portland Fire at Moda Center. (Photo by Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)

Sug Sutton hit a jump shot in the lane with 22 seconds left in regulation and the expansion Portland Fire had two key steals in the final two minutes to beat the Connecticut Sun on Monday night, 83-82 in WNBA action at the Moda Center in Portland before 12,010 fans.

Sutton’s jumper gave Portland (2-2) a two-point lead, 81-79. The winless Sun (0-5) couldn’t convert on two opportunities to tie the game or take the lead.

Brittany Griner, back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a sprained foot, missed a 13-foot turnaround jumper in the lane with 16 seconds left. However, the Sun controlled the rebound and Saniya Rivers put up a three-point shot from 23-feet away. That shot also missed the Fire controlled the rebound.

Portland’s Bridget Carleton, who was drafted by the Sun in the second round of the 2019 WNBA draft, hit a pair of foul shots to extend the Fire’s lead to 83-79 with 9.7 seconds left.

Rookie  Charlisse Leger Walker hit a three-point shot with 2.8 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 83-82 but that is as close as the Sun would get.

Carleton and Sarah Ashlee Barker each had 18 for Portland while Emily Engster had 15 points and Sutton added 12.

Connecticut was led by Griner with 16 points with Hailey Van Lith, Annesah Morrow and Aaliyah Edwards each scoring 12 points. Morrow pulled down 12 rebounds.

It was close throughout the contest. There were 14 lead changes and game was tied 13 times.

The Sun led by two, 73-71, with 3:22 remaining but Portland staked out a 79-75 lead before Van Lith cut the lead to two with a driving layup with 1:02 left in the game. With 31.4 seconds left, she took a pass from Griner and hit a driving shot from the baseline to tie the game at 79-79.

Connecticut led 42-38 at halftime after holding Portland to just 13 points in the second quarter. In the first half, the Sun shot 58% from the field, while Portland went 3 of 13 from 3-point range.