INDIANAPOLIS — New York needed over time to defeat a resilient Indiana team, 87-81, Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
After trailing by as many as 20 points, the Fever came back to force overtime. The 20-point come-from-behind effort would have set a new franchise record for the largest comeback in Fever franchise history.
The Liberty were led by rookie guard Kia Nurse, who came off the bench to lead New York with a season-high 34 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Center Tina Charles posted her third consecutive double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while former Fever guard Shavonte Zellous added 17 points.
Indiana had four players score in double figures. Rookie guard Kelsey Mitchell paved the way for the Fever with a season-high 26 points on 9-17 shooting and forward Candice Dupree added 16 points and eight rebounds of her own. Guard Erica Wheeler had 14 points and seven assists. Indiana also received 10 points from Tiffany Mitchell.
Kelsey Mitchell would record her 16th point of the contest on a free throw in the third quarter, giving her 100 points on the season. She reached 100 points in the second-fewest number of games (six) in WNBA history, as only six players (Ruthie Bolton, 1997; Nikki McCray, 1998; Tamika Catchings, 2002; Seimone Augustus, 2006; Cappie Pondexter, 2006; A’ja Wilson, 2018), were able to do so in five games.
The first quarter was a back and forth affair. Indiana was able to take advantage of six first quarter New York turn overs, jumping out to as much as a seven-point lead midway through the quarter. The Liberty would respond, as Charles would score on several crafty post ups and Nurse’s shooting would will her team back into the game, taking a 21-19 lead to end the first.
Indiana’s offense would abandon them early in the second quarter, as the team did not register its first points until a Kelsey Mitchell 3-point basket would end the drought with 4:31 remaining in the half.
“We have to maintain high levels of play on both ends of the floor for longer than 32 minutes. We played 45 today,” says Fever head coach Pokey Chatman. “It’s those lapses where you get a good shot, but it doesn’t go in so you get a little frustrated and commit a foul… we have to get through those pivotal moments when, did New York stop [us] from doing that or did we stop ourselves?”
Nurse was a spark off the bench for New York, scoring 18 first half points and leading the Liberty to a 20-0 advantage in bench scoring in the game’s first two quarters. She broke the stalemate at the start of the second quarter, scoring the first eight points of a 14-0 run by the Liberty.
New York would take a 46-29 lead into the half.
The Liberty would balloon their lead to as large as 20, 53-33, early in the third quarter. Minutes later, Indiana would go on a 11-0 run that started with a Candice Dupree hook shot from the low block. The Fever would cap off the run with a Hind Ben Abdelkader 3-pointer followed by Tiffany Mitchell layup, cutting the New York lead to just five after starting the quarter with a 17 point deficit.
“In this game we were down, I think 17 or 20 at some point,” said Wheeler. “We fought back. So, there’s definitely some growth there.”
The fourth quarter grew increasingly intense, as Indiana would tie the game at 69 with just over a minute remaining on a Candice Dupree reverse layup that drew the foul. She would miss the free throw, but an defensive stand by Indiana would force a Liberty shot clock violation.
Indiana would win a jump ball just seconds later, as Eric Wheeler found a streaking Kelsey Mitchell down the court for a wide-open layup that would give Indiana a 71-69 lead, its first since the first quarter.
Charles was fouled in the post and made both of her free throws, tying the game back up at 71 with just seconds remaining. Kelsey Mitchell missed a potential game winner with just three seconds left on the clock, sending the game to over time knotted at 71-71.
Nurse had what looked like a wide-open layup attempt at the beginning of the over time period, but Erica McCall would make up ground to reject the attempt that would have given New York the lead.
Kelsey Mitchell answered a Charles post up with a 3-point field goal. Just moments later, she hit a contested layup that drew a foul, as she sank the free throw to complete the three-point play.
“She [Mitchell] has been doing that since the birth canal, hitting those shots,” says Chatman. “She has confidence, her teammates have confidence in her… she kind of rises to those moments.”
Charles had a response of her own, scoring in the post with an aggressive back down and hook shot that gave New York an 81-79 lead with 34.1 seconds remaining. After missing a potential tying basket on the other end, Indiana was forced to foul for the remainder of the over time. Nurse and Charles sank their attempts, adding to a nearly perfect 30-32 from the charity stripe in the game for New York.
The loss drops the Fever to 0-6 on the season, which is now the longest losing streak to begin a season in team history. However, the combined record for Indiana’s first six opponents is now 16-8.
The Fever will return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Friday, June 8th for matchup with the Dallas Wings.
Highlights
Postgame