Indiana Fever (15-15) at Washington Mystics (12-18)

Date: Sunday, September 11, 2016
Time: 4:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Verizon Center (Washington, DC)
Television: WNBA League Pass
Webcast: Live webcast and stats can be accessed via WNBA League Pass on FeverBasketball.com.

Probable Starters
Fever– F- Tamika Catchings, F-Marissa Coleman, C-Erlana Larkins, G- Erica Wheeler, G-Briann January
Washington– F- Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, F- Emma Meesseman, C- Stefanie Dolson, G- Tayler Hill, G- Natasha Cloud

Storylines & Promotion
• With four regular season games left to play, the Indiana Fever can clinch a playoff berth for the 12th consecutive season – extending their own WNBA record – with a victory Sunday over the Washington Mystics Sunday afternoon at 4:00 in our nation’s capital.

• By virtue of Indiana’s win over Chicago Friday night combined with losses by Washington and Connecticut, the Fever’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to two, which marks a combination of Fever wins and losses by the ninth-place team (currently Washington) in the standings.

• The Fever climbed into a fifth-place tie with Chicago with a 95-88 home win over the Sky Friday night. Indiana now owns the tiebreaker with Chicago after taking two of the three regular season meetings this season. The Fever currently sit one game behind the Atlanta Dream (16-14) in fourth place. Indiana also owns the tiebreaker with the Dream in a head-to-head scenario.

• A fifth or sixth seed in the playoffs would ensure a home game in the WNBA’s new one-game, elimination format in the first round of the postseason. A fourth-place finish would give Indiana a first-round bye.

• Sunday’s action will not be televised locally in the Indianapolis area; however, fans may catch all the action on WNBA League Pass or follow along via the live Stat Tracker on FeverBasketball.com or on social media @IndianaFever.

• On the brink of history, Tamika Catchings pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in Friday’s win over the Sky. Catchings now needs nine rebounds to pass Lisa Leslie (3,307) as the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder.

• Briann January turned in her best offensive performance of the season with a season-high 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. January scored the game’s final six points at the foul line while forcing two key turnovers on the defensive end after Chicago had closed within one point with under 30 seconds to play.

• Shenise Johnson finished with nine points off the bench and shot 4-for-4 from the free throw line. She has now made her last 29 free throw attempts, which ties the third-longest streak in franchise history. Nikki McCray made 29 straight free throws during the 2002 season. Catchings recorded streaks of 31 straight free throws in 2009 and a franchise record 33 straight in 2010.

• Marissa Coleman has continued her late-season offensive resurgence, scoring in double figures in six of the last seven games while averaging 12.2 points per game over that span. She is shooting 43 percent from the field (26-61) over the last seven contests after shooting 29 percent from the field over her first 21 games this season.

• After a 9-8 start to the season, the Mystics have stumbled down the stretch as they have posted a 3-10 record since the beginning of July. Washington lost seven straight games before ending its skid with a 92-69 road win over the Fever on August 27 to begin the post-Olympic break schedule.

• The Mystics are looking to sweep the regular season series over Indiana after taking the first two matchups this season. Washington’s two wins over Indiana this season have come by an average of 18.5 points per game.

• Washington is led by two young players enjoying career seasons. Guard Tayler Hill leads the squad with 15.7 points per game, more than double her previous career high set last season. Center Emma Meesseman has recorded a career-best 15.1 points while pulling down a team-high 5.6 rebounds per game.

Last Meeting
(August 27, 2016) INDIANAPOLIS – Washington torched the Fever by shooting 73 percent from the field in the second half and ran away with a 92-69 road win to snap a seven-game losing streak and tip off the post-Olympic break schedule. After trailing 36-39 at halftime, the Mystics scored the first nine points of the second half and built their lead to as many as 10 points in the third. In the fourth quarter, Washington missed only three shots the entire period, finishing 13-for-16, 81.3 percent, from the field and 3-for-4 from long distance. Meanwhile, the Fever offensive managed only 30 points after halftime. Tayler Hill led Washington with 18 points. Fever forward Natalie Achonwa added a bright spot for the Fever with a season-high 12 points off the bench.

Series
Washington is looking to sweep the regular season series with Indiana for the first time in the history of the series that dates back to the 2000 season. The Fever have lost three straight regular season games to the Mystics, including two in-a-row at Washington. Indiana leads the overall series 39-24 with a 19-13 record at Washington.