Indiana Fever (2-16) at Dallas Wings (8-8)

Date: Thursday, July 5, 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m. (EDT)
Site: College Park Center
TV: none
Live Stream: ESPN 3

Probable Starters
Fever: F- Candice Dupree, C- Natalie Achonwa, G- Kelsey Mitchell, G- Tiffany Mitchell, G- Victoria Vivians
Wings: F – Kayla Thornton, F – Azura Stevens, C – Liz Cambage, G – Allisha Gray, G – Skylar Diggins-Smith

The Indiana Fever step inside the College Park Center for another matchup against the Dallas Wings, Thursday night in the Lone Star State. Dallas defeated Indiana 89-83 earlier this season when the Fever were without injured veteran Candice Dupree. Skylar Diggins-Smith recorded a double-double, scoring a career-high 35 points and pulling in 12 boards in the win over Indiana. The Fever were led by rookie Kelsey Mitchell with 26 points and four assists.

The Fever are in search of their third win on the season, after pulling off a huge road upset at Minnesota, 71-59, on Tuesday. Dallas is coming off a win over the Chicago Sky, 108-85, on Tuesday night.

Injury Report
Guard Shenise Johnson (left knee ACL rehabilitation) remains out and will not play.

Storylines
• The Fever recorded their first road win on the year and snapped a six-game losing streak as they defeated the defending champion Minnesota Lynx, 71-59 on Tuesday night. Natalie Achonwa led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Indiana. Minnesota’s Rebekkah Brunson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards for the Lynx.

• Indiana led virtually wire-to-wire, allowing the Lynx brief two-point leads in each of the second, third and fourth periods. Indiana led early and often and ended Minnesota’s seven-game win streak by forcing the Lynx to play from behind the entire contest. The Fever led by as many as 11 in the third, and after Minnesota came back to knot the score at 51, Indiana controlled the game’s last five minutes to win by 12.

• It was Indiana’s first regular season win at Target Center since 2011, as the Fever held the Lynx below 60 points at home for the first time since 2010. The Fever got balanced scoring from Achonwa (17), Victoria Vivians (13), Cappie Pondexter (12), Tiffany Mitchell (9) and Kelsey Mitchell (9).

• Dallas stars Liz Cambage and Skylar Diggins-Smith are among the top 10 scoring leaders in the WNBA. Cambage is eighth overall averaging 19.7 points per game, followed closely by Diggins-Smith in the ninth spot with 19.1 points per game. Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell ranks 19th in the league averaging 14.9 points per game.

• Cappie Pondexter played 21 minutes in her first game in a Fever jersey this season. She contributed 12 points and five rebounds in the Fever victory over the Lynx on Tuesday, in what was also the 400th game of her decorated career. Pondexter’s 26-foot 3-point dagger clinched the win for the Fever, putting Indiana up by 12 in the game’s final minute. Waived by Los Angeles last Friday, the 3-pointer was actually her first of the season.

• Vivians added 13 points, shooting 5-of-11 from the field and 3-of-7 from behind the arc in the win over Minnesota. Her current 37 3-point field goals combine with 45 from Kelsey Mitchell to form what is already the fourth-highest 3-point shooting rookie duo (82) in league history … with 16 games still to play.

• Indiana leads the all-time series history over Dallas, 30-25. However, the Wings have defeated the Fever the last two times they have played inside of College Park Center.