Indiana Fever (8-16) vs Chicago Sky (8-16)

Date: Friday, August 4, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV: MyINDY-TV 23
Live Stream: WNBA League Pass

Probable Starters
Fever: F- Tiffany Mitchell, F- Candice Dupree, C- Natalie Achonwa, G- Erica Wheeler, G- Briann January
Sky: F- Jessica Breland, C- Stefanie Dolson , G- Allie Quigley, G- Courtney Vandersloot, G- Cappie Pondexter

The Indiana Fever open a two-game homestand Friday against the Chicago Sky. Indiana has beaten Chicago twice this season, and hopes for a season sweep in what is the season’s final meeting. Both prior contests were in Chicago.

With just 10 games to play in the season, teams are busy jockeying for playoff positioning. Indiana and Chicago are tied for the 10th spot in the league, just 2.5 games behind three teams tied in seventh. Eight of the Fever’s 10 remaining games are against teams currently in playoff position.

Practice Report

Storylines & Promotion

• The Fever lost 89-73 on the road at Connecticut on Sunday. Erica Wheeler and Jazmon Gwathmey led the team in scoring with 13 points, and Jennifer Hamson put up a season-high 11 points and five rebounds in the defeat.

• Though the Fever did not get the win, the team outscored Connecticut 28-9 in the fourth quarter. It was the largest scoring margin in any quarter this year for the team, and the nine points scored by the Sun was the lowest single-quarter total allowed by Indiana all season.

• Gwathmey’s 13 points was her best with the Fever. She is averaging nine points per contest over the past four games.

• Rookie Erica McCall earned her first start with Candice Dupree missing the game while staying with her family following the birth of twin girls. McCall responded with four points and a career-high nine rebounds in her most extensive playing time of the year.

• The Fever recorded seven blocks against the Sun, the team’s best total of the year. Hamson, McCall, and Gwathmey all recorded two, with Marissa Coleman providing one as well.

• The Fever were a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw stripe against the Sun, their second straight perfect night at the line and fourth overall this year. Indiana has converted a string of 31 consecutive free throws since July 25 at Dallas, and is on pace to set a new franchise record for free throw shooting for the second season in a row. The team’s current mark of 86.1 percent tops last year’s 84.5 percent conversion rate. Tiffany Mitchell is sixth in the league with a 91.2 percent figure.

• The Sky fell to the New York Liberty 86-82, Sunday night. Allie Quigley, who made three appearances for the Fever in the 2010 season, led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds. Former Fever star Jessica Breland notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

• When the Fever hold a lead entering the final quarter, they are 5-2. With a lead in crunch time, they’re even better: 7-1 when leading with four minutes to play. The two times they squandered final quarter leads were in losses last week to Dallas and New York.

• Coleman scored her 2,000th career point on a free throw in the second quarter against the Sun. She scored her 1,000th point with the Fever on June 28 against the Sky.

• Dupree was the Sky’s first-ever draft choice in 2006, and made three All-Star teams in four seasons with the club. Coach Pokey Chatman and her two assistant coaches, Steven Key and Jessie Miller, have spent time on the sidelines with the Sky. Chicago’s Jessica Breland has starred with the Fever, playing in 30 games in 2013.

• The Fever are 34-13 against the Chicago Sky all-time, with four straight wins. Indiana is 18-5 against the Sky at Bankers Life Fieldhouse after splitting a pair of meetings in 2016. Friday’s game represents Chicago’s only visit to The Fieldhouse this season.