Game Recap: Kelsey Mitchell's 36 Points Lead Indiana to Thursday Night Win Against Seattle
INDIANAPOLIS – Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell scored a season-high 36 points to lead the Indiana Fever (10-24) to a 90-86 victory against the Seattle Storm on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mitchell’s 36 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor and 4-of-9 from 3-point range was the second most points scored in a regular season game in franchise history. Thursday night was Mitchell’s fourth game scoring at least 30 points in her career.
NaLyssa Smith recorded her 11th double-double of the year with 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Rookie center Aliyah Boston also contributed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Indiana tied a season-high six blocked shots, highlighted by Boston’s four blocked shots. With her second block of the night in the third quarter, Boston recorded her 45th career block, surpassing Teaira McCowan’s 44 blocks in 2019 to set a franchise record for most blocks in a rookie season.
In her fourth double-digit scoring game, rookie guard Grace Berger added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the court to go along with four assists. In addition, Kristy Wallace dished out a team-high five assists.
Though both teams opened the first two minutes of the game shooting 1-of-5 from the floor, Indiana soon improved and shot 42.9 percent (8-of-19) within the quarter. Mitchell led Indiana’s offense throughout the quarter as she notched 11 points, while Emma Cannon pulled down five rebounds. Neither team led by more than four points at any point in a quarter that featured eight lead changes. After 10 minutes of back-and-forth scoring, the Fever entered the second frame with the one-point advantage, 25-24.
Mitchell and Smith’s five points each helped Indiana outscore Seattle, 21-14, in the second frame. The Fever defense also held the Storm to 31.3 percent (5-of-16) shooting from the court. Indiana ended the half on a 12-4 scoring run allowing the Fever to go into the locker room leading by their largest advantage of the half, 46-38.
Indiana maintained its lead throughout the third frame as it held the Storm to 31.2 percent (5-of-16) shooting for the second consecutive quarter. Mitchell added seven points in the quarter and joined Boston and Smith to collectively shoot 6-of-6 from the charity stripe within the quarter. The Fever held on to the lead going into the final frame, 63-56.
With the help of a 19-8 scoring run and a 9-of-13 shooting clip, the Storm outscored the Fever, 30-27, in the final frame. After Seattle took its first lead since the 7:09 minute mark in the second quarter with roughly two minutes remaining in the matchup, Indiana quickly took back the lead 37 seconds later and extended it to four points as the clock expired. Mitchell finished with 13 points in the final frame, while Smith followed behind with seven points.
For Seattle, Jewell Loyd recorded her 11th 30-point game of the season as she notched 32 points on 10-of-23 shooting from the floor. Ezi Magbegor followed behind with a double-double of 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the court and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sami Whitcomb added 10 points and a team-high four assists, while Jordan Horston contributed nine points and six rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Fever host the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. Sunday’s game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Indiana.