Indiana at Chicago (Preseason)
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Wintrust Arena | 6 p.m. ET

The Indiana Fever tip off the 2023 preseason schedule with a 6 p.m. ET start at the Chicago Sky from Wintrust Arena. The Fever will conclude the preseason slate with a home game at 1 p.m. ET at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, May 13 against the Dallas Wings.

Sunday will mark the first game as head coach in the 20-plus year coaching career for Christie Sides, who was named the ninth head coach in franchise history on November 4, 2022. Indiana Fever General Manager Lin Dunn brought Sides back to Indiana after serving as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Dream during the 2022 season. She had previously been associate women’s head coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe since 2019, which was the role she moved to after a two-year stint with the Fever in 2018 and 2019.

In hope of returning to the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season, Indiana will rely on the veteran presence of their experienced backcourt in Kelsey Mitchell and Erica Wheeler.

Mitchell, who enters her sixth season, all with Indiana, averaged career-highs with 18.4 points per game, 4.2 assists per game and shot 43.8 percent from the field in 2022. She missed the last five games of the regular season with a partial plantar fascia tear in her left foot snapping a 153 games-played streak, which is now the longest consecutive games played streak in franchise history and was also the longest active streak in the WNBA. Her 569 points scored in 2022 tied her career-best with her 2021 scoring total and finished 2022 with 17 games scoring at least 20 points, tying Tamika Catchings for the second most scored by a Fever player in a season. She enters 2023 third in franchise history in points scored (2,428), third in field goals made (855) and second in 3-point field goals made (347).

Wheeler returns to Indiana for the first time as a member of the Fever after signing a multi-year contract to come back to the franchise she played with from 2016-19. Wheeler started 107 of 136 games played with the Fever in her first stint and averaged 9.5 points, 4.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 24.2 minutes played per game with Indiana. She most notably put a stamp on her Indiana tenure winning the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game MVP. With the Atlanta Dream in 2022, Wheeler averaged 8.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds and played 26.3 minutes per contest in 30 games.

The Fever will once again lean into a younger roster with plenty of upcoming and exciting talent. Entering Sunday’s preseason opener, 12 of the 16 players on the Fever training camp roster are approaching their rookie season or their second year in the WNBA.

Second-year frontcourt players NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo return after both making All-Rookie teams in 2022, while first-round draft pick Lexie Hull and Destanni Henderson, who played in all 36 games in her rookie campaign, look to strengthen the Fever roster.

Joining Smith and Egbo in the frontcourt in 2023 will be Aliyah Boston, the first No.1 overall pick in Indiana Fever franchise history. Boston finished her South Carolina career from 2019-23 as the program’s all-time leader in the following categories: consecutive games started (138), rebounds (1,493), offensive rebounds (518), offensive rebounds in SEC games (244), defensive rebounds (975), defensive rebounds in SEC games (485), rebounds in SEC games (729), blocked shots in SEC games (165), double-doubles (82), double-doubles in SEC games (42) and triple-doubles (2). Boston was a four-time All-America recipient, four-time Lisa Leslie Center of the Year, four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year, two-time National Player of the Year, two-time Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, two-time SEC Player of the Year and was also the 2022 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player guiding the Gamecocks to a national championship.

The other first-round pick for Indiana came just miles away taking Grace Berger from Indiana University with the No. 7 overall pick. Berger was a four-time All-Big Ten First Team selection and the all-time winningest player in Indiana’s history with 118 victories over five seasons from 2018-23. A Louisville native, Berger finished her IU career ranked seventh in program history in points (1,841) and second in assists (573). In 2022-23, she helped Indiana to its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as the team’s No. 2 scorer and assists leader. Berger was a four-time All-Big Ten First Team recipient, three-time USWBA All-American Honorable Mention, two-time Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention and part of the Big Ten All-Tournament Team in 2022.

Injury Report

None

How to Watch

Sunday’s game will not be broadcast live. Fans may follow along on the official Indiana Fever twitter account @IndianaFever for updates.