Indiana Makes Progress, But Lynx Take Home Victory

INDIANAPOLIS – When Shenise Johnson hit a 3-pointer with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, slicing the Indiana Fever deficit to three, she was feeling good. She wanted the ball. Again and again.

“(Coach Stephanie White) let everybody know: If somebody has it going, let’s try to get her shots,” Johnson said. “We’re all about making each other better, making the extra pass. I just happened to be open and feeling it.”

But despite Johnson’s heroics, the Fever rally lost its steam. Against the Minnesota Lynx, a favorite to win the WNBA championship in 2015, Johnson’s 15 points – including nine in the fourth – weren’t enough. Sixteen from Indiana’s Marissa Coleman, 14 from Natalie Achonwa and 11 from Briann January weren’t enough.

The veteran Lynx departed Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a 78-69 victory on Saturday night. The Fever, dealing with injuries and working to implement a new offense, knew there would be some hard landings in the early going this year. This felt like one of them.

Photo Gallery: Fever 69, Lynx 78 »

The Fever are 0-2 after back-to-back games against Chicago and the Lynx. But Stephanie White, Indiana’s first-year coach, struck an optimistic tone after Saturday night’s loss. She liked her club’s resilience and focused effort after Friday’s 95-72 setback at Chicago.

“I’m just really proud of the way this team bounced back,” White said. “It’s really a 180-degree turnaround from where we were last night.”

The Fever reduced their turnovers from 20 against Chicago to 12 against Minnesota. They held Minnesota to 38.7 percent field-goal shooting after Chicago recorded a 46.2 mark. The Fever improved their own shooting to 42.4 percent from 39.4.

But after Johnson’s 3 early in the fourth quarter made it a 60-57 game, the Lynx began building their margin again. When Rebekkah Brunson grabbed a deflected ball and scored on a putback, Minnesota took an eight-point lead with only 46.2 seconds remaining.

The Fever played a second consecutive game without veteran forward Tamika Catchings (bruised knee). Veteran center Erlana Larkins has been limited by injuries in the early season. Achonwa, after sitting out last season following knee surgery, is seeing plenty of action as a rookie and capitalizing.

White referred to the 6-foot-4 Achonwa as someone who has “a point guard mentality in a post player’s body.”

“She just gets it,” White said. “She’s not blinded by the moment at all.”

Achonwa, who collected 10 points and six rebounds at Chicago, earned her first WNBA start against Minnesota. She quickly went into what she called “attack mode.”

“Given the opportunities I was when they were switching on our screen and rolls, I just looked to square up and go to the rim,” said the Notre Dame graduate.

Johnson took over the scoring load in the second half. Indiana trailed by as much as 14 early in the half. Johnson used Indiana’s fast-paced offense to her advantage, looked for open shots and hit 6-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-4 from the 3-point arc. She also grabbed five rebounds.

“I expect that from Shenise,” White said. “She has the potential to be an All-Star in this league. She’s a terrific player. She has to work on having a high motor at all times. She has to work on playing within our defensive system. But she wants to learn and she has embraced the challenge.”

The night began with 3,712 spectators simultaneously lighting a glowstick, which painted a picture-perfect radiance at The Fieldhouse and also broke the Guinness World Record for the most people creating such illumination. The afterglow didn’t quite last long enough to produce a Fever victory.

Still, as January said afterward, the game “was a step in the right direction.”

“We were much more free-flowing in our offense,” the point guard said. “We pushed the ball more. We took care of the ball better.”