Game Preview: Fever Tip Off Three-Game West Coast Swing Against Seattle Storm on Wednesday Night

SEATTLE – The Indiana Fever (0-4) travel to Washington on Wednesday evening to face the Seattle Storm (1-3) for the first of four matchups between the two teams this season. Wednesday’s game will be broadcast at 10 p.m. ET on WTHR Channel 13.

The Fever and Storm last met on August 24 in 2023 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse when Indiana walked away with a 90-86 victory led by guard Kelsey Mitchell’s 36-point performance. Last year, the Storm finished behind Indiana in the WNBA standings at 11-29 overall.

On Monday, the Fever hosted the Connecticut Sun in Indianapolis, which was the second sold-out home game of the regular season in Gainbridge Fieldhouse this year, in an 88-84 Sun victory. Despite the final score, Fever guards Caitlin Clark and Mitchell had notable performances with 17 points and five assists each. Indiana forward NaLyssa Smith, as well as centers Aliyah Boston and Temi Fagbenle all scored in double figures as well and Fagbenle recorded the first double-double of her WNBA career with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Storm will be led on Wednesday night by free agent acquisition Skylar Diggins-Smith to go along with WNBA All-Star Jewell Loyd, who both starred in the college ranks at Notre Dame. Sixth-year guard Victoria Vivians is entering her first season with the Storm after playing five seasons with the Fever as a former first round pick in 2018. Last season with Indiana, Vivians averaged 17.7 minutes and 5.2 points per game. So far in Seattle, she’s averaging 19.1 minutes and 4.0 points per game, but has started every game for the Storm this season. The other big free agent acquisition from Seattle this year was signing forward Nneka Ogwumike in the offseason. Ogwumike has only played in two games this year due to suffering an early-season injury, but is averaging 22.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game in two outings.

Seattle’s lone win of the season came back on Sunday in an 84-75 win at the Washington Mystics, led by a team-high 24 points from Loyd.

The Storm also competed on Monday evening against the New York Liberty, but fell, 63-74, at Barclays Center, giving New York its fourth consecutive win to start the season. Storm guard Jewell Loyd, forward Ezi Magbegor and guard Sami Whitcomb were the only three Storm players to score in double figures, with 13, 12 and 11 points respectively, compared to four New York players Monday evening.