Game Preview: Fever at Liberty
Indiana Fever (0-7) vs New York Liberty (2-4)
Date: Sunday, June 10, 2018
Time: 3:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Westchester County Center
TV: none
Live Stream: WNBA League Pass
Probable Starters
Fever: G- Kelsey Mitchell, F- Erica McCall, C- Natalie Achonwa, G- Erica Wheeler, G- Tiffany Mitchell
Liberty: G- Marissa Coleman, F- Tina Charles, C- Kia Vaughn, G- Shavonte Zellous, G- Bria Hartley
The Indiana Fever travel to New York for a rematch with the Liberty on Sunday. The Fever fell to the Liberty in overtime last Saturday, 87-81. Indiana is coming off a nailbiting Friday night loss to Dallas, 89-83, while New York fell to Connecticut, 88-86, on Thursday.
Against Dallas, Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell matched a career-high with 26 points in the second straight game. Tiffany Mitchell followed Kelsey with 12 points and seven rebounds for Indiana. Tina Charles led the Liberty with 24 points and grabbed nine boards in their loss to Connecticut.
Injury Report
Fever forward Candice Dupree has been ruled out of Sunday’s game with a left knee injury. Guard Shenise Johnson (left knee ACL rehabilitation) remains out and will not play.
Storylines
• Sunday’s game marks the second match-up between Indiana and New York this season, and the Fever’s first visit to the Liberty’s new home floor at Westchester County Center. Kia Nurse had a career-high 34 points and snagged nine rebounds for New York, while Kelsey Mitchell lead Indiana with 26 points and three rebounds last Saturday in Indianapolis.
• Indiana’s rookie draft picks broke loose and had over half of the Fever’s points versus Dallas Friday night. Joining Kelsey Mitchell in the scoring column were Stephanie Mavunga with 10 points and Victoria Vivians with seven, accounting for 43 of Indiana’s 83.
• Kelsey Mitchell now has 136 points in seven games. She leads the WNBA with 3.4 3-point field goals per game and her 19.4 points per game rank eighth in the league. New York’s Tina Charles owns a league-leading 23.8 points per game.
• The Fever fell to 0-7 to start the season and are 0-2 record on the road. The combined record of the teams who have contributed to Indiana’s seven losses is 24-15 (.615). Indiana’s first six opponents were unbeaten at tipoff. Among Indiana’s first six opponents, only the Liberty has a losing record.
• Filling in for the injured Candice Dupree (left knee) Friday night, Erica McCall finished with nine points and a career-best 11 rebounds. McCall contributed a blocked shot and a steal in a very active and energetic 32 minutes prior to fouling out in the final minute of play.
• Rookie forward and Brownsburg High School graduate Stephanie Mavunga posted her best scoring outing of the season with 10 points. She shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in 11 first-half minutes. She finished 5-of-6 and added two rebounds.
• Indiana leads the all-time series history over the Liberty, 41-28. However, New York has won four straight in the series. Sunday’s game is Indiana’s first at Westchester County Center.