BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Third year Fever center Teaira McCowan added 11 points and nine rebounds in the second half to her impressive 2021 debut. Fourth year Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell followed up with 16 of her team-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes, but with 5.8 seconds remaining in the first regular season game of the 2021 WNBA season, Indiana needed one stop to force its first overtime game since July 19, 2019.

Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu inbounded the ball to Kylee Shook in front of the Fever bench, only to come back around a screen and deliver the final blow with a long 3-point shot to give New York the 90-87 win against the Fever. Ionescu’s 25 points, 11 assists and six rebounds helped snap Indiana’s three-game winning streak against the Liberty (1-0) on Friday night.

Indiana (0-1) went on a 9-2 run to take the 84-81 lead with 1:32 remaining in the game after Mitchell knocked down her only made basket from beyond the arc at Barclays Center. Friday was Mitchell’s 22nd career game with at least 20 points and the second straight season-opening game scoring at least 20.

McCowan reminding everyone of her rookie season dominance as she notched her 17th career double-double ending with 22 points and 16 rebounds. The 16 rebounds tied for the third most boards pulled down in a regular season game in her young career and was only two points shy of tying her career-best scoring total for a game.
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McCowan had plenty of help inside as the Fever outrebounded New York 45-28 on Friday night. McCowan and Jantel Lavender were the first pair of Fever teammates to collect at least seven offensive rebounds in the same game in franchise history. Lavender finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in her Fever regular season debut. Her first basket of the night in the first quarter pushed her past 2,500 points in her career.

Jessica Breland came off the bench to lead the Fever reserves with eight points and four rebounds. Tiffany Mitchell added seven points and climbed the Fever leaderboards in the process. Her 3-for-3 clip from the charity stripe gave her 425 made free throws pushing her to fourth in franchise history for most made free throws. She only trails one of the newest Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, Tamika Catchings (2,004); Briann January (560) and Tammy Sutton-Brown (444).

For New York, Betnijah Laney poured in a game-high 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting, while rookie Michaela Onyenwere contributed 18 points and five rebounds in her first regular season game.

UP NEXT
The Fever and Liberty will meet again on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET to begin the 2021 home regular season schedule. Sunday’s game will be streamed on FeverBasketball.com and the Indiana Fever’s Facebook page. Fans may also watch on CBS Sports Network.