Sarah Ashlee Barker was amid a career season when she injured her left leg in Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Wings. Two days later, the Fire announced the worst: Ashlee Barker suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2026 WNBA season.
Breakout WNBA guard just got terrible injury news news
Portland Fire guard Sarah Ashlee Barker has suffered a torn ACL, the team announced Friday.
Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
Barker was one of the Fire’s standout players, averaging 10.7 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, while shooting 50.2% from the field and 40% from three. All of those numbers were career bests and substantial jumps from her rookie season with the Los Angeles Sparks.
The 24-year-old was drafted 9th overall after a standout year at Alabama, but was left unprotected in the expansion draft when the Fire and Toronto Tempo joined the WNBA. The Fire ultimately selected Barker, who became a critical part of their early success.
She joins a long list of WNBA players who have torn their ACLs in the past year, a list that includes Chicago Sky guard Rickea Jackson and Fire teammate Sania Feagin, who tore her ACL this month.
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