PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) In a game with playoff implications between a veteran team and a young one that's never been there before, the old guard showed the kids how it's done.

Adrienne Goodson scored 28 points and Marie Ferdinand added 17 as the Utah Starzz clinched at least third place in the WNBA Western Conference with an 82-69 victory over the Portland Fire on Tuesday night.

Jennifer Azzi had 10 points, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for her career, and nine assists for the Starzz (19-10), who swept the three-game season series with Portland and snapped a two-game losing streak.

Utah, which will make an appearance in the postseason for the second straight year, tied the franchise record for victories with three games remaining.

"She played with a lot of heart, she attacked form the very beginning of the game and her jumper was on," Azzi said of Goodson. "I didn't even know it was happening, it was in the flow of everything. This year for her is the best I've seen her play in general. She's at another level."

Said Goodson: "I knew I was going to have a good game. You know it when your shots are falling. Most of it came within the flow of the offense, which is exactly how I like to play. I don't like to have to force any shots or do anything outside of the offense."

Alisa Burras led the Fire (16-14) with 17 points and six rebounds. Jackie Stiles added 10 points, her highest output since June 18, for Portland, which has lost three straight and five of seven.

"It's tough right now," Fire coach Linda Hargrove said. "We haven't put together 40 minutes for a while, and at this time of year you've got to be playing 40 minutes to have a chance to win."

The Fire lead Seattle for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West by just one-half game, and they play in Seattle on Friday.

"We've got two games left that are extremely important, one will determine who will go to the playoffs," Hargrove said. "We've had a goal all year of going to the playoffs, and it's going to come down to one game."

Utah used a 13-0 run early in the second half to pull away. Ferdinand was the catalyst, scoring six points in the run and 11 in the half.

Natalie Williams, a member of the Portland Power of the defunct ABL, scored 13 points for Utah, which shot 55.2 percent. Goodson was 12-of-14 from the field.

"I knew we were going to play well today, there was intensity at the shootaround," Starzz coach Candi Harvey said. "I thought we established ourselves the first four minutes on both ends of the floor and really pushed the basketball. We knew we had to come out and run on this team."

The Starzz opened an 11-4 lead to start the game and maintained a seven-point edge throughout the first 10 minutes.

But Margo Dydek, the 7-foot-2 center from Poland who was dominating inside defensively, left the game 10:40 remaining in the half in foul trouble. Portland went on a 9-0 run to take a 24-21 lead.

Dydek returned to the game with 8:15 left and Utah ran off a 12-2 run to retake a six-point lead. She headed to the bench for the remainder of the half with 4:07 to go, and the Fire closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 38-37 lead.

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