Indiana Fever (12-12) vs. Washington Mystics (9-15)
Date: Saturday, August 27, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, IN)
Television: FOX Sports Indiana
Webcast: Live webcast and stats can be accessed via WNBA League Pass on FeverBasketball.com. Please note, webcasts during games televised on FOX Sports Indiana may not be available in local market areas due to blackout restrictions.
Traffic Alert
Due to the large number of events taking place in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday, please ensure that you allow yourself plenty of time when driving to and entering Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the game. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. ET and with tipoff at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Probable Starters
Fever– F- Tamika Catchings, F-Lynetta Kizer, C-Erlana Larkins, G- Erica Wheeler, G-Briann January
Mystics– F- Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, F- Emma Meesseman, C- Kia Vaughn, G- Tayler Hill, G- Ivory Latta
Storylines & Promotion
• The Indiana Fever are back as they host the Washington Mystics on Welcome Back Night presented by IMS Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
• Great seats still remain for Saturday’s game. For tickets and more information, please visit FeverBasketball.com. FOX Sports Indiana will broadcast Saturday’s matchup as well with coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m.
• The Fever ended the pre-Olympic break portion of their schedule with five wins in their last six games entering the hiatus.
• With three consecutive wins over Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York – all teams ahead of the Fever in the WNBA standings – before the break, Indiana put together its first three-game winning streak of the year while improving its record to .500 (12-12) for the first time since the team was 4-4 through the first eight games of the season. A victory over Washington Saturday night would boost Indiana’s record above .500 for the first time since the Fever stood at 2-1 after the first three games.
• With a 12-12 record, the Fever currently sit in fifth place in the WNBA standings, just a half-game behind Atlanta for the fourth spot. With 10 games to play, Indiana’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot in the WNBA’s new eight-team, league-wide playoff format stands at eight.
• The Fever will welcome home Tamika Catchings, who tied the United States Women’s Basketball record with her fourth Olympic gold medal earlier this month in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
• Catchings played in all eight games in Rio, averaging 3.1 points in 10.3 minutes per game for the U.S. team that outscored its opponents by 37.2 points per game. She currently leads the Fever in scoring with an average of 13.7 points per game and leads all players in the WNBA this season with 48 steals.
• Four of the past five Fever wins have come by margins of 10 or more points.
• Most Improved Player of the Year candidate Lynetta Kizer scored in double figures in six straight games entering the Olympic break, including a new career high with 21 points in Indiana’s last game at New York on July 21. Kizer is averaging a career-high 9.5 points per game and currently ranks sixth in the WNBA this season in field goal percentage at 56.8 percent. She is averaging 15.5 points and shooting 67 percent (44-66) from the field over the last six games.
• The Washington Mystics ended the first portion of their schedule with a 9-15 record, currently in a tie for the WNBA’s eighth and final playoff spot.
• Washington is led by four-year center Emma Meesseman, who is averaging team highs with 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Guard Tayler Hill has recorded the best year of her four-year WNBA career with 14.7 points and 2.9 assists per game.
Last Meeting
(June 22, 2016) WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the tail end of a stretch in which the Fever lost five of six games, the Mystics limited Indiana to 27 second-half points in a 62-76 road loss at Washington on June 22. Despite scoring only 35 points in the first half, the Fever led by one heading into the break, and trailed just 47-50 heading into the fourth quarter after managing only 12 third-quarter points. However, Washington began to click offensively as the Mystics recovered to shoot 7-for-13 from the field for 26 points in the fourth after shooting just 33 percent through the first three periods to outlast the Fever. Lynetta Kizer posted a game high with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go with seven rebounds to pace the Fever.
Series
Washington took three of the five regular season meetings over Indiana last season and have now won four of the last six overall. The Fever lead the overall series, 39-23, and hold a 20-10 advantage in games played at home.
Practice Report —