Battle of League’s Worst Teams Won by Charlotte

Andrea Stinson scored 25 points and Shalonda Enis had 20, including the clinching free throws in overtime, as the Charlotte Sting defeated the Portland Fire, 87-85, Tuesday night at Portland, Ore.

Sophia Witherspoon scored 23 and Vanessa Nygaard 18 for the Fire, which lost the matchup between the two worst teams in the WNBA. Portland is 1-7 and Charlotte is 2-8.

Portland went ahead, 85-82, in overtime as Sylvia Crawley, Witherspoon and Nygaard each made jump shots, But the Sting held the Fire without a basket in the final 2:14.

Phoenix 74, Minnesota 55--Bridget Pettis’ scored a season-high 22 points and the Mercury pulled away in the second half before 6,641 at Minneapolis.

It was the second loss in a row for the Lynx after a franchise-record five-game winning streak.

Betty Lennox led the Lynx with 14 points, but Katie Smith had only 10 points on four-of-15 shooting.

The Mercury avenged a 69-62 loss to Minnesota Saturday at Phoenix.

Utah 66, Seattle 63--Adrienne Goodson scored 23 points at before 5,376 at Salt Lake City as the Starzz extended its winning streak to a franchise-record four in a row.

Seattle has lost three in a row.

Edna Campbell led the Storm with 17 points, including 11 in the second half. Kamila Vodichkova added 14 and reserve Michelle Edwards scored 10.

Utah played for the second consecutive game without All-Star forward Natalie Williams, who strained her lower back in pregame warmups Sunday and is listed as day-to-day.