WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the final game of the 2022 regular season, the Indiana Fever closed the season at Washington with a 95-83 loss on Sunday against the Mystics. Fever guard Tiffany Mitchell led the Fever with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and tied her career-high with seven assists.
The Fever finished the season at 5-31, while Washington heads to the postseason at 22-14.
Indiana started off the game shooting the ball well from the field. The 12 made field goals tied for the most in a first quarter this season for the team. Washington kept pace offensively and both teams shot 66.7 percent from the field in the quarter as the Mystics led 31-27.
A 7-0 run is how Washington began to second quarter. From there, the Mystics began to separate, holding Indiana to just 3-of-9 in the quarter while shooting 8-of-14. Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne scored 16 points in the first half to help Washington put up the most points in a half this season for the Mystics and lead 57-40.
Mitchell led the offensive attack for Indiana in the second half, scoring eight points in the third quarter. The Fever scored 23 points in the quarter, but five turnovers allowed Washington to maintain a 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Indiana’s defense in the fourth quarter improved, holding Washington to 5-of-16 shooting. The lead for Washington, however, stayed in double digits the rest of the game. Fever forward Emma Cannon finished with 14 points, the second time in two games she has scored in double figures. Rookie guard Lexie Hull also scored in double figures for the second game in a row with an 11-point performance and a career-high four assists.
Delle Donne led Washington with a game-high 22 points. Guard Ariel Atkins scored 15 points — which was enough for her to reach 2,000 career points — and rookie center Shakira Austin ended with 11 points. Guard Natasha Cloud did not return on the floor in the second half due to precautionary reasons and finished with 10 points. It was also the first game this season that Cloud did not record an assist in a first half.