Sports
Fire rally past Storm in first-ever Pacific Northwest meeting
Jul 4, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Portland Fire forward Emily Engstler (21) shoots the ball against Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (14) during the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images Carla Leite scored a team-high 20 points as the expansion Portland Fire defeated the host Seattle Storm 77-72 Saturday night in the first meeting between the WNBA’s Pacific Northwest rivals at Climate Pledge Arena.
Bridget Carleton scored 14 points and Megan Gustafson added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Fire (9-12), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Portland’s Emily Engstler and Frieda Buhner combined for 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Dominique Malonga led the Storm (5-17) with 22 points. Natisha Hiedeman scored 15 and rookie Awa Fam added 12. Seattle remained winless in 12 games against Western Conference foes.
Fam made a 3-pointer from the left corner with 6:29 remaining to pull the Storm within 61-58. The Fire answered with a 5-0 run, capped by Carleton’s three-point play, to maintain command.
Malonga made two free throws with 2:39 left as Seattle again pulled within three, but Carleton made a driving, second-chance layup after an offensive rebound by Gustafson with 1:48 left. Gustafson sank a lay-in and free throw with 1:04 to go to put Portland up 71-63.
Malonga made a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute, but Portland clinched the victory at the free-throw line.
The Fire made 36.8% of their field-goal attempts (25 of 68), but were just 4 of 25 from 3-point range. The Storm shot 33.8% (24 of 71) from the floor and were 8 of 29 from distance. Portland outrebounded Seattle 47-31 despite a size disadvantage inside.
After leading by two at the half, the Fire began pulling away late in the third.
Gustafson’s 3-pointer broke a 38-all tie with 6:01 left in the quarter to give Portland the lead for good. Buhner scored seven points in a 9-3 run to put the Fire up by seven and they took a 54-47 lead into the fourth.
The Fire opened the second quarter with an 8-0 streak as Leite converted a three-point play and Engstler added a 3-pointer and a driving layup to pull Portland within 20-18. The teams traded the lead until late layups by Engstler and Barker broke a tie and helped the Fire take a 32-30 lead at the intermission.
Hiedeman scored nine points in the first as the Storm took a 20-10 lead. Portland shot just 2 for 16 in the opening quarter, including missing all eight of its 3-point attempts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming advance to OWCS NA Stage 2 grand final
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Spacestation Gaming advanced to the grand final of the Overwatch Champions Series’ North American Stage 2 playoffs with a 3-1 victory over Team Liquid in the upper-bracket final on Saturday.
Dallas Fuel swept LuneX Gaming 3-0 in the lower-bracket semifinal and will face Team Liquid on Sunday in the lower-bracket final. The winner of the lower-bracket final will face Spacestation in Sunday’s grand final.
Six teams participated in a round-robin regular season, with the top four advancing to the playoffs, which run from Friday through Sunday. All matches in the double-elimination bracket are best-of-five, except for the grand final, which will be best-of-seven.
In addition to earning shares of the $75,000 prize pool, the top four Stage 2 finishers advance to Stage 3. The top three finishers also will qualify for the Overwatch Champions Series’ Midseason Championship, a $1 million event scheduled for July 29-Aug. 2 in Paris.
On Saturday, Spacestation opened with a 2-1 win on Ilios Control before Liquid pulled even 4-3 on Neon Junction Hybrid. Spacestation took over from there with back-to-back wins on Dorado Escort (2-1) and New Junk City Flashpoint (3-2) to reach the grand final.
Facing LuneX, Dallas won 2-1 on Ilios Control and Circuit Royal Escort before finishing off the sweep 4-3 on King’s Row Hybrid.
Overwatch Champions Series’ North American Stage 2 prize pool
1. $30,000, qualifies for Midseason Championship and NA Stage 3
2. $15,000, qualifies for Midseason Championship and NA Stage 3
3. $12,000, qualifies for Midseason Championship and NA Stage 3
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 3 – LuneX Gaming
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation — The Kafe, Disguised
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: FBI arrests former West Virginia, Kentucky player Kerr Kriisa
Jan 24, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Bearcats guard Kerr Kriisa (11) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Former Kentucky basketball player Kerr Kriisa has been arrested by the FBI in connection with a fraud scheme, Kentucky Sports Radio reported on Saturday.
Kriisa, who also played guard for West Virginia, Arizona and Cincinnati during his collegiate basketball career, is connected with a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme dating back to his time with the Mountaineers, according to the report. The 25-year-old is being extradited to West Virginia, per the report, which did not provide additional details on the allegations.
An Estonia native, Kriisa caught on with Arizona following a strong international run that included stints in Lithuania and Germany. The guard spent three seasons with the Wildcats, increasing his scoring average each season (2020-23).
He was with West Virginia in 2023-24, averaging a career-high 11 points per game, though he also served a nine-game suspension that season for receiving impermissible benefits at Arizona. He followed that with a season at Kentucky (2024-25) and another season at Cincinnati (2025-26). Kriisa averaged 8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 28.1 minutes in 127 games (106 starts) in his college career.
Kriisa had recently been an announced participant for Kentucky’s The Basketball Tournament-affiliated team, “La Familia.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
O's ruin Hunter Greene's season debut, take down Reds
Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo (29) runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the first inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles, Saturday, July 4, 2026, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. Rookie Samuel Basallo smacked a three-run home run in the first inning and Adley Rutschman drilled a two-run double during a five-run fourth to help the Baltimore Orioles defeat the host Cincinnati Reds 8-5 on Saturday night.
Pete Alonso provided three hits and an RBI as the Orioles, who won their third in a row, bounced back after falling behind during Cincinnati’s three-run second.
Baltimore starter Brandon Young worked through five-plus innings, surrendering four runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out five. Young (7-2) is 4-1 in his last six starts.
Baltimore used four relievers to cover the final four innings, capped by Tyler Wells picking up his second save by working the ninth.
Jose Trevino had three hits and an RBI and Elly De La Cruz added two hits and an RBI for Cincinnati, which lost for the sixth time in its last seven. The Reds outhit Baltimore 11-10 but left nine runners on base.
Reds starter Hunter Greene (0-1), making his season debut coming off the injured list, was dinged for eight runs on seven hits with four walks in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and tossed a wild pitch.
Basallo began the scoring with his two-out blast in the first, pushing his homer total to 14.
The Reds, who were blanked 3-0 in Friday night’s series opener, tied the score in the bottom of the inning on the first of two RBI singles by Eugenio Suarez.
Cincinnati grabbed the lead in the second on Jose Trevino’s double before TJ Friedl’s RBI triple and Elly De La Cruz’s run-scoring single.
The Orioles went ahead again on Blaze Alexander’s two-run single in the fourth before Rutschman’s double extended the lead. Rutschman scored on Pete Alonso’s two-out single. Baltimore had only two hits after the fourth inning.
Suarez’s two-out infield single in the seventh allowed the Reds to cut the margin to 8-5, but they stranded two runners on base.
–Field Level Media
Spacestation Gaming advance to OWCS NA Stage 2 grand final
Report: FBI arrests former West Virginia, Kentucky player Kerr Kriisa
