Fever Learn What It Takes to Win in Loss against Former Champs
September 11, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Indiana Fever News Release
The Indiana Fever are WNBA Playoffs bound, but first must close out a historic season for the franchise as they steamroll through their post-Olympic schedule. After winning eight out of their 10 games since the break, Indiana fell to Las Vegas on Wednesday, 86-75. In the first of two matchups against A'ja Wilson and the Aces this week, the rematch coming on Friday, the Fever are treating the mini-series as a pre-playoff test.
"You don't get [any] better than that from a seeing where you are standpoint," Kelsey Mitchell said of the series against Las Vegas. "...As a leader it's my job to make sure that we have confidence, because even though we lost, things like that go away. Confidence is always going to improve everything else."
Mitchell is a seven-year veteran of the WNBA - all with the Indiana Fever. This year is the first season the Fever have qualified for the WNBA Playoffs since Mitchell was drafted second overall in 2018. She led Indiana in scoring in the loss on Wednesday with her 24-point night.
Both teams boasted efficient offenses entering Wednesday's matchup - Las Vegas with the WNBA's best points per game average with 86.4, but Indiana didn't trail far behind with their own 84.7 per game average. Holding the Aces to their scoring average showed a defensive grit that coach Christie Sides hopes to carry into Friday's matchup.
"I think the one thing I saw out of that group down the stretch was a dog mentality to get the next stop," Mitchell said. "We made a really good run down the stretch of the game and I think they turned it on during that timeout...And I think that great teams turn to a different person, a different beast, a different group, when you come out of [timeouts]."
The Fever were outscored in all but one quarter despite jumping out to an early 7-0 lead in the first. They forced Las Vegas to take a timeout just 36 seconds into the game, the Aces went on to win the first quarter 20-18 after the stoppage.
Indiana struggled from the field - they made under 40 percent of their field goal attempts - but were successful on just 26.9 percent of their 3-point attempts. Sharpshooting Caitlin Clark posted a 27 percent shooting night in which she made just one of her 10 3-point attempts.
"Overall, I didn't feel like I played bad," Clark said. "I felt as a group, we really struggled to make shots that we had been making, really since the start of the second half. And sometimes that's basketball. I mean, they're a great defensive team. You know they're going to be physical with me. They're strong, so that can kind of wear you down through the process of the game."
Clark played all 45 minutes in Indiana's overtime win over the Atlanta Dream on Sunday, and added another 37 minutes in Wednesday's loss. She and her Fever teammates will look to a restful Thursday before returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday to apply all that they learned about the Aces in Wednesday's matchup.
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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from September 11, 2024
- Fever Learn What It Takes to Win in Loss against Former Champs - Indiana Fever
- A'ja Wilson Nets W Single-Season Scoring Record as Aces Top Fever 86-75 - Las Vegas Aces
- A'ja Wilson Breaks WNBA Single Season Scoring Record - Las Vegas Aces
- Game Preview: Dallas Wings vs. New York Liberty (9/12) & Seattle Storm (9/13) - Dallas Wings
- Dallas Wings to Face New York Liberty in Annual "Rock the Pink" Game on Thursday - Dallas Wings
- Fever Host Aces for Back-To-Back Matchups Beginning Wednesday - Indiana Fever
- 9/10 Sparks Gameday Information - Los Angeles Sparks
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