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Tuesday, Jun. 13 10:00pm ET
Reed's 23 points help hold off Fire | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- When the Phoenix Mercury turned up its defense, the Portland Fire melted. Brandy Reed scored 23 points and Jennifer Gillom added 19 as the Mercury forced 24 turnovers and held off the Portland Fire for a 75-69 victory Tuesday night. "That's what won the game for us," Gillom said of the Mercury's pressing defense that produced 12 steals. "We have enough depth to play full-court defense for 30 to 40 minutes. That was key for us." Sophia Witherspoon scored 19 for the Fire (1-4), which led at halftime but trailed much of the second half before tying it at 67 with 2:46 remaining. Bridget Pettis hit a pair of free throws with 1:51 left and Gillom made a layup on the next possession to give the Mercury a lead it would not relinquish. "We heard about them going into double overtime with the Comets to open the season, and that was in my mind, at least. We knew what they were capable of," Reed said. "We were only down six at halftime, but that was not the position we wanted to be in. We wanted to assert ourselves." Portland had a chance to tie it at 71 after Michelle Cleary missed a jumper and Witherspoon grabbed the rebound. But Cleary stole the ball and Vanessa Nygaard fouled Pettis. "Its tough when the main ballhandlers turn the ball over 18 times," Portland coach Linda Hargrove said. "We need to figure a way to get our ball handlers relief. Phoenix did a great job of playing our passing lanes." After trailing 35-29 at halftime, Gillom tied the game with 12:53 remaining. Pettis then stole an inbound pass and hit a layup to tie the game at 49. Phoenix went on a 7-2 run to take a 54-49 lead. Sylvia Crowley, who scored 17 points, hit a layup to score a Portland run that cut the lead to 56-54, but Cleary hit a three-pointer with 8:37 left to end the round. "Their momentum was high in the first half, and you expect that on the road. But the level of our defense wasn't where we wanted it," Gillom said. "We knew they had the talent to win even though this is an expansion team, it's probably the best expansion team. You can't take them for granted." | ALSO SEE WNBA Scoreboard RECAPS Miami 74 Detroit 61
Phoenix 75
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