Indiana Fever (0-0) vs. Dallas Wings (0-0)

Date: Sunday, May 1, 2016
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Site: Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Television: None
Webcast: None

Probable Starters
Fever – F-Lynetta Kizer, C-Natalie Achonwa, G-Layshia Clarendon, G-Shenise Johnson, G-Tiffany Mitchell
Wings – TBD

Storylines
Indiana opens its 2016 preseason against the recently relocated Dallas Wings. The Wings, formerly the Tulsa Shock and the Detroit Shock, also will open the regular season at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the Fever — Saturday, May 14 at 6:00 p.m. — in the season opener for both clubs.

Sunday’s game is the first of two preseason matchups for the Fever. Indiana travels to Washington to meet the Mystics on Friday, May 6 (11:30 a.m.).

Sunday’s bout pits a pair of playoff teams from 2015. Indiana and Tulsa both were No. 3 seeds in the 2015 WNBA Playoffs. The Fever beat Chicago (2-1) and New York (2-1) in Eastern Conference matchups, before falling to Minnesota in a 5-game WNBA Finals series. Tulsa bowed to Phoenix (2-0) in the franchise’s only playoff series while representing Tulsa.

Indiana participates in a pair of preseason games prior to opening the 2016 regular season with a three-game homestand. It is the longest homestand ever to open a Fever season, and begins with the Saturday, May 14 clash with the Wings. Indiana hosts Phoenix on Wednesday, May 18 (7:00 p.m.) and Atlanta on Friday, May 20 (7:00 p.m.).

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They may be wearing new threads while representing a new city, but the Wings bring several players and a coach with ties to Indiana.

• Assistant coach Bridget Pettis is a native of East Chicago, Ind., and played with the Fever in 2002 and 2003. She was a part of the Fever’s first playoff team.
• Similarly, a pair of players from the Fever’s championship team of 2012 return with the Wings – Karima Christmas and Erin Phillips. Phillips was acquired by Dallas in an offseason trade with Los Angeles, and was on Fever playoff teams in three straight seasons (2011-13). Christmas also played on three Indiana playoff squads (2012-14) before signing a free agent deal with Tulsa in 2015.
• One of the biggest names on the Wings roster is 2009 Indiana Miss Basketball Skylar Diggins. Diggins, a graduate of nearby Washington High School, also led Notre Dame to three straight Final Four appearances, including a 2011 trip to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. She was an Irish teammate of current Fever stars Natalie Achonwa and Devereaux Peters.
• Dallas also brings a rookie that only recently became familiar with Bankers Life Fieldhouse. First-year center Ruth Hamblin was a member of the Oregon State team that reached the Final Four here last month.

Indiana carries a 16-player roster into its preseason, with Marissa Coleman (Turkey) and Devereaux Peters (Hungary) still participating overseas. Both are expected in camp by May 14. Ten Fever players return from last year’s WNBA Finals club, with a pair of rookies and four free agents joining the training camp roster. Here is a closer look:

• Besides Coleman and Peters, returning point guard Briann January will not play Sunday while recovering from offseason knee surgery. Veteran center Erlana Larkins also had offseason surgery and may be limited, as will 36-year old Tamika Catchings who begins her 15th active season in the WNBA.
• Returning Fever stars who should see significant minutes on Sunday include post players Natalie Achonwa and Lynetta Kizer, and guards Shenise Johnson, Layshia Clarendon, Maggie Lucas and Jeanette Pohlen.
• Newcomers include top draft picks Tiffany Mitchell and Brene Moseley, who both should see ample playing time in the backcourt. Mitchell was the Fever’s first-round selection out of South Carolina. Moseley was Indiana’s second-round pick, from Maryland.
• Offseason free agent signings include Cyesha Goree, Asia Taylor and Erica Wheeler. Goree is a 2015 Michigan graduate who went undrafted last year, but has averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds overseas in Hungary. Taylor played at Louisville and was a 2014 draft pick of the Minnesota Lynx where she appeared in 24 games off the bench, but was waived prior to 2015. Wheeler is a 2015 graduate of Rutgers who was signed as free agent by Atlanta last summer. She was later signed by New York at the end of the regular season and briefly appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Liberty, against the Fever.

Congratulations are extended to longtime Fever star Tamika Catchings. As she enters her final season of play, she was named last week to the 2016 USA Basketball Olympic Women’s Basketball Team. Catchings will pursue a fourth Olympic gold medal, which is the most ever won by an American men’s or women’s basketball player. With her 37th birthday in July, Catchings, a USA tri-captain alongside Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi, is set to become the oldest player ever to represent the United States in the Olympics women’s basketball tournament.