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Indiana Fever

Fever Advances to WNBA Finals; Tickets to Games 3 and 4 on Sale Now

October 11, 2012 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Indiana Fever News Release


INDIANAPOLIS - The East's No. 2 seed Indiana Fever will meet the defending WNBA champion and West top seed Minnesota Lynx in the best-of-five-game WNBA Finals beginning this Sunday, October 14. The Fever advanced to the WNBA Finals for second time in franchise history by defeating the Connecticut Sun on Thursday night.

Tickets for the WNBA Finals went on sale at FeverBasketball.com immediately following Thursday's Fever win to capture the Eastern Conference championship. After playing the first two games of the series at Minnesota, Indiana will host Game 3 of the Finals on Friday, Oct. 19, and if necessary, Game 4 on Sunday, Oct. 21.

WNBA FINALS - Minnesota (27-7, 4-1) vs. Indiana (22-12, 4-2) Local EDT National TV

Game 1 - Sun., October 14 Indiana at Minnesota 7:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. ESPN2

Game 2 - Wed., October 17 Indiana at Minnesota 7:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. ESPN

Game 3 - Fri., October 19 Minnesota at Indiana 8:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. ESPN2

*Game 4 - Sun., October 21 Minnesota at Indiana 8:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. ESPN2

*Game 5 - Wed., October 24 Indiana at Minnesota 7:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. ESPN

* if necessary

Tickets for Games 3 and 4 in Indianapolis already are on sale at FeverBasketball.com. Tickets go on sale at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse Box Office and all other Ticketmaster outlets beginning Friday, Oct. 12 at 10:00 a.m. The 2012 Indiana Fever Playoffs are presented by Indiana Members Credit Union and Kroger.

Below are facts about the Fever and the upcoming WNBA Finals:

- To reach the WNBA Finals, Indiana upended the Atlanta Dream in Games 2 and 3 of the East Semifinals after falling to the Dream on its home floor in Game 1. Similarly, the Fever lost Game 1 to the Connecticut Sun before rebounding to defeat the East's top seed with wins in Games 2 and 3 of the East Finals. The Fever is just the fourth team in WNBA history to reach the WNBA Finals after twice recovering from 1-0 deficits in preliminary series (Detroit in 2007; Los Angeles in 2003; New York in 2002).

- Indiana has reached the conference finals on five different occasions, yet Thursday's win at Connecticut was the Fever's first road win in a conference finals game, snapping a 0-6 road losing streak in the East Finals.

- Similarly, by beating Connecticut, Indiana advanced in a playoff series for the first time in its history by winning on the road. It is the first playoff series in Fever history in which it Indiana won without having homecourt -advantage.

- Indiana has reached the WNBA Finals for the second time in its 13-year history. The Fever fell to the Phoenix Mercury in a memorable five-game Finals in 2009. Tied with 4:29 to play in the deciding 5th game, Indiana saw its title hopes slip away in the final minutes. The series was highlighted by record crowds at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the highest-scoring game in WNBA Playoffs history - a 120-116 Phoenix overtime win in Game 1. Indiana won Games 2 and 3 of the series.

- Indiana battles the defending champion Lynx in the 2012 Finals, with each franchise making its second Finals appearance. Head-to-head, Minnesota beat the Fever twice (2-0) in 2012, in consecutive games exactly one month ago, Sept. 14 (66-64 in Indianapolis) and Sept. 17 (86-79 in Minneapolis). During the Lynx' championship season of 2011, the two clubs split two games with each winning on each other's home floor.

- Indiana's eight-year run of reaching the postseason (2005-12) is tied with Los Angeles as the second-longest streak in league history. Seattle owns a current streak of nine years (2004-12) which is the league's longest.

- Indiana has reached the postseason nine times in the club's 13-year history. The Fever has reached the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the past eight years, with its only previous trip to the WNBA Finals in 2009.

- Lin Dunn has earned her sixth playoff appearance overall as a WNBA head coach. She and Seattle's Brian Agler share the league's longest active playoff coaching streak with five straight appearances.

- Speaking of coaches, Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve was formerly the head coach at nearby Indiana State University. Lynx assistant coach Shelley Patterson was an assistant with the Fever (2000-03) and also at ISU.

- The Fever is the first franchise in WNBA history to record 20 or more wins, seven times in an 8-year span.

- Indiana has joined the L.A. Sparks as the only teams ever to produce seven 20-win seasons in WNBA history.

- The streak of four straight seasons with 20+ wins is an Eastern Conference record, breaking the Fever's own conference mark for consecutive 20-win seasons in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

- Indiana's 22-12 record is the second-best in the Eastern Conference and matches the best regular season mark in franchise history. Indiana won 21 games in each of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011. The Fever won a franchise-record 22 games in 2009 and 2012.

A WNBA playoff participant in eight straight seasons and nine times since 2002, the Indiana Fever has advanced to the WNBA Finals twice in the past four years. Indiana will host the defending champion Minnesota Lynx in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Friday, Oct. 19 and, if necessary, Game 4 on Sunday, Oct. 21. For single-game, playoffs and season ticket information, visit FeverBasketball.com or call (317) 917-2500.

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