BRADENTON, Fla. – Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell became the second fastest player in franchise history to reach 1,000 career points in Friday night’s 87-80 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. Mitchell tied a team-high 15 points and was one of five Fever players to score at least 10 points for the first time since the 2019 regular season finale on September 8, on top of playing all 40 minutes for Indiana.
The third-year guard reached the scoring milestone in her 74th game. Fever Vice President of Basketball Operations Tamika Catchings scored 1,000 points in 54 games at the start of her Hall-of-Fame playing career. Mitchell is the 217th WNBA player to reach the milestone and joins Natalie Achonwa, Candice Dupree, Tiffany Mitchell and Erica Wheeler as active Fever players who have also scored 1,000 career points.
Mitchell and the Fever led Minnesota 23-18 after the first quarter, but a 21-2 first-half run for the Lynx propelled them ahead and would never trail the rest of the way.
Indiana was behind 71-57 early in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to 76-74 with 5:13 remaining in the game, but Minnesota responded with a quick 6-0 run of its own to pad the lead heading down the stretch.
Fever guard Kennedy Burke did everything she could to bring the Fever back in the fourth quarter with 11 of her season-high 14 points coming in the final 10-minute interval. She went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter rally.
Tiffany Mitchell pitched in 15 points and extended her consecutive made free throws streak to 27, which dates back to last season, and is the longest active streak in the WNBA. Teaira McCowan recorded her 13th career double-double on Friday night with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Julie Allemand notched new career-high totals with 12 points on 4-of-6 made field goals from 3-point range.
For Minnesota, Lexie Brown’s career-high 26 points and Sylvia Fowles’ 21 points paced the Lynx to its fourth consecutive win.
Fever forward Stephanie Mavunga exited the game with 9:25 remaining after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face from Lynx forward Erica McCall. She did not return to the game.
Indiana will face Minnesota next to close out the regular season on Saturday, September 12.
UP NEXT
The Fever conclude the regular-season series with the Washington Mystics on Sunday at 7 p.m. Sunday’s game will be on ESPN 2 and will not able to be streamed at FeverBasketball.com, on the Indiana Fever’s Facebook page, or via the Fever app.