By Madie Chandler | FeverBasketball.com
INDIANAPOLIS – Despite a mid-June heatwave baking central Indiana to a sweltering 93 degrees, the Sunday atmosphere inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse was icy.
This cold front of competition followed the Chicago Sky into town, and if the earlier meeting between the Fever and the Sky was reflective of a budding rivalry, this matchup showed that it’s growing – thriving, even – in the frigid attitude between the lines.
This attitude isn’t born out of personal vendettas or national narratives, but rather the competitive grit between two teams boasting some of the best young talent in the WNBA.
“I spent my first six years in Chicago and this was a huge rivalry,” coach Christie Sides said. “…Two really good teams – two young teams – just trying to figure it out with great players, just getting better every game.”
Indiana left victorious after the initial matchup with the Sky, and improved their record against Chicago to 2-0 on Sunday as they clawed to a 91-83 win. Plenty of factors changed between meetings, but one remains the same: the history between these teams and their players continues to be a magnet for attention. Sunday’s game was a sellout, drawing Gainbridge Fieldhouse’s capacity of 17,274 fans to witness yet another high-intensity matchup between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
“The emotion, the passion that we play with – I think people love to see that,” Clark said. “And I think that’s maybe not something that was always appreciated in women’s sports. And it should be. I think that’s what makes it fun…We’re competitors. That’s the way the game should be. It’s going to get feisty, it’s going to get physical. But at the end of the day, both teams are just trying to win.”
The energy of that sellout crowd charged the Fieldhouse to a breaking point, and Dana Evans was its recipient after a late first-quarter incident in which she was tied up with Clark. The fans deemed the contact excessive, as did the officials, and the riotous crowd pounced.
It wouldn’t be the last time they’d pounce, however.
Clark drove to the rim late in the third frame for a left-handed layup, only to take a hard foul from Reese. The contact awoke the vicious crowd, and was upgraded to a Flagrant-one foul.
“It’s just part of basketball,” Clark said. “It is what it is. She was just trying to make a play on the ball and get the block.”
Clark would go on to complete her own block on a Marina Mabrey 3-point attempt, leading to a Boston layup that extended the Indiana lead to five and forced a Chicago timeout midway through the fourth quarter. The Fever never looked back.
Regardless of the chilly on-court atmosphere, Indiana’s hot shooting was too much for Chicago’s defense. Four players reached double figures, and all four did so by shooting over 50% from the field. Clark’s 23 points led the Fever, followed closely by Aliyah Boston’s second consecutive double-double. She tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks against the Sky’s formidable post duo of Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.
“Defensively we’ve been sound enough to go back on the [offensive] end and get what we want,” Kelsey Mitchell said. “…I think the 90 points plus has come from pace, obviously getting up and down the floor, but defensively being sound enough to go back on the [offensive] end.”
Indiana held Chicago to 40.7% shooting and totaled 11 blocked shots. Just one of the Sky’s nine active players shot over 50%, and the Fever won the rebounding battle, 38-32.
The 5-10 Fever are 5-5 in their last 10 games, and own a two game win streak for the first time this season. They look to Wednesday as they have an opportunity to tally another win against the Washington Mystics to extend their home win streak to four.
“It’s about the Indiana Fever every day,” Sides said. “When we’re in the locker room talking pregame, it’s about the Indiana Fever, and how we just have to get better in our 40 minutes and success will follow.”
The Fever are finally finding that success, and hope to continue it in their upcoming contests.
UP NEXT
The Fever meet the Washington Mystics at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday, June 19 at 7 p.m. ET. Wednesday’s game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Indiana and NBA TV.