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Indiana Fever

FEVER: Indiana Hangs on to Beat Seattle, 83-80

June 9, 2017 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Indiana Fever News Release


Indiana Fever vs. Seattle Storm

WNBA | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.)

Regular Season Game #9, Home Game #5

Friday, June 9, 2017

Game Recap Box Score: HTML | PDF @IndianaFever on Twitter Fever Media Guide PDF

RECORD HIGH POINTS HIGH REBOUNDS HIGH ASSISTS 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q OT FINAL

Indiana 4-5 Wheeler - 19 Dupree - 12 Wheeler - 6 21 23 17 22 -- 83

Seattle 5-3 Loyd - 25 Stewart - 9 Bird - 6 21 18 27 14 -- 80

KEY RUN:

After trailing by five points, 61-66, with 17.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Fever scored the game's next 10 points to retake a five-point lead. The Fever would not trail the rest of the game.

KEY STAT:

Led by Natalie Achonwa with a career-high 17 points and Tiffany Mitchell with 11, the Fever bench finished with a 22-3 scoring advantage in tonight's win. Indiana's bench has outscored its opponent's bench in all nine games this season.

INDIANA NOTES:

Indiana improved its record to 4-1 inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season. The Fever are now tied with the Storm and New York Liberty for the most home wins in the WNBA this season. As point guard Briann January sat tonight's game with a left Achilles strain, Erica Wheeler made her first start of the season and led the Fever in scoring for the second straight game. Two nights after scoring a career-high 24 points, Wheeler finished with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting to go with five rebounds, six assists and only two turnovers in 35 minutes. Achonwa's career-high scoring total passed her previous best of 14 points set during her first home game of her rookie season on June 6, 2015, against Minnesota. Mitchell has now scored in double figures in seven of Indiana's nine games this season. Resuming her role off the bench tonight, she scored eight of her 11 points in the fourth quarter. Candice Dupree recorded her first double-double in a Fever uniform and the 61st of her WNBA career as she finished with 16 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. Shenise Johnson returned to the starting lineup and scored in double figures for the second straight outing with 12 points and five rebounds in 33 minutes of action. With nine turnovers in tonight's win, the Fever are 4-0 when they turn the ball over 12 or fewer times and 0-5 when they commit 13 or more mistakes. Indiana outscored Seattle 22-14 in the fourth quarter while shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 10-for-13 from the free throw line. After Seattle shot 72.7 percent and outscored the Fever by 10 in the third, the Fever limited Seattle to 29.4 percent shooting, including just 1-for-7 from three-point range in the final period.

SEATTLE NOTES:

Winners of five of their previous six games entering tonight's contest, the Storm saw their record fall to 1-2 on the road and 5-3 overall this season. Former Notre Dame standout Jewell Loyd led all scorers with 25 points, including 14 in the second half to keep Seattle within striking distance. Forward Breanna Stewart finished with 23 points and a team-high nine rebounds. She has scored 20 or more points in three games this season. Sue Bird (5,572) passed DeLisha Milton-Jones for 9th most points scored in WNBA history in tonight's game. She finished with 11 points and a team-high six assists. Bird's three-point attempt to tie the game in the final seconds fell off the mark as Indiana prevailed for the three-point home win.

SERIES NOTES:

Indiana avoided the season sweep to the Storm as they avenged a pair of road losses at Seattle earlier this season. The Fever now hold a 19-17 overall record against Seattle with a 14-4 mark at home.

Quoting Fever Head Coach Pokey Chatman

"It felt good to get some defensive stops. That was a win we needed to have on our home court. Defense and getting stops was one of our keys, and we got a few of them on consecutive trips in the first half. We kept hammering that message and we kept them coming at some big times at the end of the game."

"I thought we came out of the locker room a little flat, but I look at this team and they really fought. We had (Erica) Wheeler starting and playing big minutes in place of Bri [Briann January]. We had JP [Jeanette Pohlen-Mavunga) playing some minutes at the point. We had a lot of big performances. A lot of people deserve mention right now, but I'd be remiss if I don't mention Nat [Natalie Achonwa]. She had a huge game. She is so cerebral out there. She has a big I.Q. in the post that really helps us. She just keeps getting better and better. Even when she might not have such a good game on the stat sheet, she stays relevant. She always has a screen assist or some other play to set up a teammate."

(On Candice Dupree's defense in fourth quarter, limiting Breanna Stewart to 1 point)

"Candice Dupree's defense, man, at the end of the game, it was huge. Stewie's always going to get her points and always have an impact on a game, but we made some adjustments, and while our defensive effort may have started with Candice on Stewie, that energy trickled down to the rest of her teammates."

Quoting the Fever's Natalie Achonwa

(On her performance off the bench)

"I'm really just trying to come in and provide that energy off the bench. It's really just my mindset coming in is just try to do the little things and do what I can and fit in where I can, just try to help the team out."

(On the turnaround from the last game with the Storm)

"I think we really built on the errors we had from the last time and really just had a different approach to it. We played them quick twice in the beginning and then we had a couple games to grow in between. So just luckily it's really been beneficial for us that we got to see how they played and then attack them."

Quoting the Fever's Erica Wheeler

(On sustaining her energy while playing 35 minutes)

"That just comes from my teammates. My teammates are just telling me to keep going and going. That's how I am. I'll die for them, so I just keep pushing and pushing. So that's what it was, my mind just keeps pushing."

(On the turnaround from the 24-point loss to the Storm)

"I think we attacked more. We were aggressive. My defense was pretty good. We communicated. We had some lapses when we didn't communicate, but I think towards the end we communicated and got some good, key stops."

Quoting Storm Head Coach Jenny Boucek

(On the difference in the outcome of the game)

"I do think it was close in almost every area. Good, hard-fought game. It just comes down to making more plays. The rest of my opinion is not something that I can comment on publicly without getting fined."

(On Indiana's second chance points)

"That's an area we have to get better at. They exploited it."

Quoting the Storm's Breanna Stewart

"I thought coming in here we knew it was going to be a tough game because we beat them twice at home. They never let up. It was back-and-forth the entire game. At the end we couldn't finish plays and they did."

(On the difference between the first and second half)

"I think we picked up our defense in the second half, and then those last couple minutes in the fourth quarter, that really killed us."

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