Three minutes and 52 seconds that changed everything
Shay Ciezki was playing the fifth game of her season last night. Undrafted out of Indiana, she came off the bench for 21 minutes and put up a career-high 22 points. Fifteen of them arrived in the 3:52 that closed the third quarter.
Portland led 63-52 after a Nyadiew Puoch floater. Then Ciezki scored the next 12 Phoenix points, and 15 of the final 16 in the period. Her third three of the run pushed the Mercury ahead for the first time in the quarter, 68-66 with 4.6 seconds on the clock. Holly Winterburn answered with a banked three at the horn to hand Fire the lead back, 69-68.
One line sums up the night: 9 for 9 at the stripe. Then she fouled out with 3:44 to play and never saw the end of the game she had just turned around.
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A finish decided at the free-throw line
Phoenix took it 94-91 in Portland after a messy last three minutes. Emily Engstler pulled Fire within 87-85 on a long ball at 3:12. Lexi Held, fouled behind the arc, made all three to push the lead back to five.
Natasha Mack stretched it to four with 15.6 seconds left. Alyssa Thomas then missed two free throws at 10.9, and Winterburn banked in another three to make it 92-91 with 4.2 seconds showing. Noemie Brochant closed it out at the line, and Thomas picked off Portland’s last look.
Thomas finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Brochant added 14 and 6 assists, Held had 12 before fouling out, Mack and Sami Whitcomb chipped in 11 apiece. For Fire, Engstler posted 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Winterburn had 18 off the bench, Karlie Samuelson 14.
Two thinned-out rosters, courtesy of the World Cup
Context matters here. Portland sat its three best players: Carla Leite, just back from the World Cup with France, Bridget Carleton, nursing a left ankle, and Megan DiLeo, out with a dislocated finger. Phoenix had no Kahleah Copper, who is dealing with a right groin problem days after winning gold with the United States against France on Sunday.
Copper’s absence is what opened the door for Ciezki’s minutes. Phoenix climb to 15-26, though with only three wins in their last 10. Portland fall to 16-25 and have now lost five of six.
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