The Indiana Fever (1-5) will conclude its three-game west-coast trip on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET against the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces (2-1) at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Saturday’s matchup marks the first of four meetings between Indiana and Las Vegas this season. The game will broadcast on WTHR Channel 13 and NBA TV.
Last night, Indiana secured its first win of the regular season against the Los Angeles Sparks, 78-73, at Crypto.com Arena. The Fever escaped an 11-point deficit at the half and held the Sparks to only 11 points in the third quarter. The Fever’s second-half surge was launched by Kelsey Mitchell with 15 of her 18 points coming in the second half. Indiana centers Temi Fagbenle and Aliyah Boston both had season-high nights Friday, tallying 17 points and six rebounds each to go along with Fagbenle’s three assists. Boston also recorded two assists and two steals. Caitlin Clark posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and also added eight assists and four steals. Friday night was only the fifth time Indiana has won at Los Angeles during the regular season in franchise history.
The last time the Fever and Aces met at Michelob ULTRA Arena was on June 26 when Las Vegas won 88-80. The Aces were led by Chelsea Gray and A’ja Wilson, with Gray’s team-high 25 point performance and Wilson’s 24-point, 10-rebound double-double. Fever guard Erica Wheeler recorded 20 points, while Fever center Aliyah Boston added a double-double of her own with 20 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
The Aces haven’t played since Tuesday, which was a 98-88 loss to the Phoenix Mercury, highlighted by Kahleah Copper’s 37-point performance. Aces guard Kelsey Plum posted 27 points and five assists, guard Jackie Young tallied 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Wilson had 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Saturday’s matchup also marks the first contest between the two 2024 WNBA draft picks from the University of Iowa – Clark and Aces guard Kate Martin. During their time together as Hawkeye teammates, Clark and Martin were instrumental in leading Iowa to back-to-back national championship game appearances in their last two seasons with Iowa.