The Indiana Fever welcomed the Dallas Wings back to Indianapolis on Tuesday for the fourth and final clash between the two teams. Indiana left the arena victorious in all three previous meetings, despite having the services of Caitlin Clark in just one of those matchups. The Wings are a bottom-three team in the WNBA this season and in heavy contention for the first overall pick in the league’s 2026 draft.

Indiana fell just short in the end, despite rallying back from deficits of 14 and 17, to drop the fourth matchup with the Wings, 81-80.

As the Fever stepped onto the hardwood to line up against Dallas, they saw a lot of themselves. Just two seasons ago – in 2023 – Indiana selected Aliyah Boston with the first overall pick in the WNBA draft, just as Dallas did with Paige Bueckers in the league’s draft this April.

Boston’s debut season saw the Fever finish 13-27, a record that boosted their odds to win the 2024 draft lottery and select Caitlin Clark in the offseason. Despite the perceived struggles of the 2025 season, the Indiana Fever are far from that 13-27 record just two seasons ago. Tuesday’s game gave some strong perspective – sometimes taking the time to reflect on prior growth provides the energy to take a strong step forward.

Indiana is taking strides – the most measurable of those steps forward coming on the defensive side of the ball – leaning on chemistry, a gritty determination not to quit and a drive to pick themselves up off the mat time and time again.

“We can’t make too many excuses about it because no one’s going to hand us anything,” Kelsey Mitchell said of playing with a short roster after the Fever’s win over the Sky last Saturday. “So we might as well look at it for what it is and keep showing up.”

Shared adversity brings groups together. Indiana has embodied it throughout the season. On Tuesday, after the Fever fell behind the Wings by as many as 14 points in the first half, they showed Indiana how their togetherness can flip the momentum of any matchup with the right motivation.

Indiana flipped that deficit in the second quarter and rode a 22-8 run to the halftime buzzer, knotting the game at 42 at the break. The Fever went on to fall behind by 17 in the fourth quarter and again rallied together to give themselves a shot to earn the win.

There are no moral victories at this level, but the ability to will themselves within a point of victory after trailing by 17 points in the fourth quarter is a testament to the culture inside the Fever locker room.

“I think when you talk about culture, culture is organic, and it’s ever changing,” White said early in the season. “You’ve got to be intentional about not just building it, but cultivating it. And it’s through communication. It’s through action. It’s saying and doing what you say you’re going to do. It’s sacrifice, it’s all of those things. And you know, oftentimes I think we look at it as a linear process, but it’s ever evolving.”

As the Fever add new players via hardship contracts and adjust rotations due to injuries, the culture inside that locker room takes on new layers of complexity that could devastate a lesser team’s season. But Indiana keeps striving, keeps battling and keeps coming together in pursuit of success despite its struggles. Its culture evolves with the flux of the season.

White keeps an open door policy, allowing players to voice their opinions to the coaching staff about anything and everything on their minds. It’s clear that the opportunity to cultivate honest conversation is contributing to a healthy environment inside the locker room.

“We’re sacrificing for our team,” White said in May as she described the attitude of Indiana’s staff – players and coaches included. “We’re selfless in our pursuit of what we ultimately want to do, which is to compete for a championship.”

It’s those connections that hold the fabric of the Fever so tightly in the face of losses and devastating injuries. They show up for each other, win or lose and continue to do so as they swim through a season that is a sea of adversity.

The Fever are back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday as they host the Washington Mystics and attempt to return to the win column.