INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever reduced a 25-point deficit to six points in the third quarter against the Seattle Storm, but ultimately fell to Seattle at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon, 85-62.

All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell led the Indiana scorers as she netted 19 points on 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range, to go along with five assists. Rookie center Aliyah Boston followed behind with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Boston also pulled down seven rebounds and recorded two steals.

Erica Wheeler contributed nine points and dished out five assists for Indiana, while Victoria Vivians added seven points and six rebounds. Rookie forward Victaria Saxton recorded her first field goal of her career on a three-point jumper in the second quarter. After a career-best 10 minutes of playing time, she ended the night with a career-high five points.

Seattle opened the matchup with a quick five points, but Indiana immediately responded with a 9-0 run of its own to take the lead for nearly three minutes. Led by Wheeler’s five points and Boston’s four points, both on a perfect 2-of-2 shooting clip, the Fever ended the first frame shooting 50.0 percent from the floor (7-of-14). Indiana’s sole lead of the game was taken away at the 4:21 mark when Seattle began a 17-6 scoring run to end the quarter ahead, 24-17.

The Storm extended the lead to as many as 25 points in the second frame, increasing the scoring run to 30-8 after another roughly six minutes of play in the second quarter. Indiana’s shooting woes continued in the first half going 10-of-33 from the floor and 2-of-9 from three-point range in the first half, and trailed, 47-27, going into the locker room.

Following its lowest-scoring second quarter of the season, Indiana opened the third frame with an 8-0 scoring run to cut into the deficit. Highlighted by Mitchell’s eight points and Boston’s seven points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor, Indiana eventually extended the run to 20-8 allowing it to reduce Seattle’s 20-point halftime lead to as few as six points on one occasion. After trailing by 11 points at the end of the third quarter, the Fever were outscored in the fourth quarter, 23-11, as the Storm finished the game on a 26-9 scoring run and shot 60 percent (9-of-15) from the floor.

Seattle recorded its highest field goal percentage of the year as it shot 53.4 percent (31-of-58) from the floor and 50 percent (12-of-24) from beyond the arc. The Storm attack was led by WNBA All-Star MVP Jewell Loyd’s 26 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor. Loyd also dished out a season-high eight assists to help the Storm tie its regular-season best this season 23 assists.

Rookie guard Jordan Horston came off the bench to record 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while pulling down six rebounds. Gabby Williams followed behind with 14 points, four assists and a game-high three steals.

UP NEXT
The Fever return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET to take on the Phoenix Mercury. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on the official Indiana Fever Facebook page.