cover-image

The Indiana Fever welcome the New York Liberty for a 7 p.m. ET matchup at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Friday night. Indiana enters Friday night’s matchup looking to snap a four-game losing skid against a Liberty team who is 3-1 in its last four outings overall.

New York enters Friday with a few new faces on the roster after the team acquired the draft rights to forward Raquel Carrera from the Atlanta Dream in exchange for guard AD Durr earlier this week. The player contract of Megan Walker was also acquired in the trade with the Dream and was subsequently waived by the Liberty. After being sidelined the past two seasons, Durr logged 10 games in 2022 with the Liberty and averaged 1.4 points per game. The team also announced Thursday morning that upon being granted a new hardship exemption by the league, the team re-signed guard Crystal Dangerfield to a second hardship contract. Dangerfield has recorded averages of 4.2 points, 3.5 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 23.1 minutes per game in her first 10 games of the 2022 WNBA season, seven of which have been with the Liberty, and four of which were starts. Dangerfield also appeared in three games with the Fever to begin the 2022 regular season before being released on May 11.

The Fever earned the overtime victory in the first of three meetings against New York at Barclays Centers back on May 13. In that game, Kelsey Mitchell and Victoria Vivians combined for 44 of the Fever’s 92 points on the way to a 92-86 overtime victory. In the overtime victory, Indiana recorded the greatest rebounding performance in team history by outrebounding New York, 57-33. The 57 rebounds set a franchise record for most rebounds in a game surpassing the old mark of 50, which was set against the Detroit Shock on September 4, 2009. Outrebounding New York +24 was also the largest rebounding differential in franchise history as well. The Baylor rookie-frontcourt tandem of NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo controlled the glass and set their own history as well. Smith’s 17 rebounds and Egbo’s 14 boards combined for the most rebounds corralled by two rookies on the same team in a game in WNBA history with 31.

The last matchup between the Fever and Liberty on June 1 resulted in an 87-74 loss where Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu led all scorers with 23 points to go with seven rebounds. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 17 points and four assists as Indiana was playing in the second game of a back-to-back after hosting the Connecticut Sun the day prior.

Friday night’s matchup will showcase two of the top-10 scorers in the league in Mitchell and Ionescu. Mitchell is averaging 18.7 ppg while also eclipsing 20 points eight times this season. Ionescu averages 17.1 ppg and is currently on a four-game streak of scoring at least 20 points in each game.

Friday’s game will mark the 137th consecutive game played for Kelsey Mitchell. It will place her one game shy of tying the franchise record held by Tamika Catchings at 138.

Injury Report
Fever: None
Liberty: Betnijah Laney (Right Knee) – OUT | DiDi Richards (Right Hamstring) – OUT | Jocelyn Willoughby (Left Knee) – OUT

Probable Starters

Indiana Fever (3-11)
F – Victoria Vivians (11.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 27.7 mpg)
F – NaLyssa Smith (12.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 29.4 mpg)
C – Queen Egbo (7.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 24.3 mpg)
G – Kelsey Mitchell (18.7 ppg, 3.9 apg, 32.9 mpg)
G – Danielle Robinson (8.4 ppg, 3.9 apg, 25.5 mpg)

New York Liberty (4-8)
F – Rebecca Allen (10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 28.6 mpg)
F – Natasha Howard (14.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 30.4 mpg)
C – Stefanie Dolson (6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 22.3 mpg)
G – Sabrina Ionescu (17.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 31.4 mpg)
G – Crystal Dangerfield (3.4 ppg, 3.6 apg, 26.1 mpg)

Extra Notes

Among the top-10 players in scoring average, Kelsey Mitchell is first in fourth-quarter scoring (6.7 ppg) and second in fourth-quarter field goal percentage (53.3%).
Victoria Vivians is one point shy of reaching 700 career points.
Queen Egbo is one rebound shy of reaching 100 career rebounds.
Emily Engstler is 10 points away from reaching 100 career points and seven rebounds away from 100 career rebounds.
Destanni Henderson is second in the WNBA in three-point percentage (50%) and is four points away from 100 career points.
Tiffany Mitchell is one steal away from 150 career steals and one assist away from 350 career assists.

Broadcast Information
TV: Bally Sports Indiana – Pat Boylan (play-by-play), Chris Denari (analyst)

Related News

Game Preview: Fever Look for First Win in Final Regular Season Matchup Against Liberty on Sunday

Game Preview: Fever Make First Road Trip of Season at New York on Sunday Afternoon

Game Preview: Fever Welcome Liberty to Indiana Farmers Coliseum for Commissioner's Cup Matchup

Game Preview: Fever and Lynx Looking for First Win of 2022