INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever finally got a win.
The Fever took down the Washington Mystics, 82-76, Wednesday afternoon in Washington D.C., snapping an eight-game losing streak. Indiana is now 6-15 on the season, officially surpassing its 2022 win total.
“They had five wins last year, and we knew we just had to get over this hump,” Fever coach Christie Sides said. “And, you know, we threw away the first 20… Who are we going to be during this time? We started out today and got a great team win, and it just felt so good to get over that hump.”
Here are some takeaways from the Fever’s victory:
Long-awaited
Indiana’s win over Washington was the Fever’s first victory in nearly a month. Before Wednesday, the last time Indiana won was against Seattle on the road tomorrow.
Indiana has been close to victory multiple times throughout the eight-game losing streak, including a one-point loss to Dallas and an overtime loss to New York.
“It’s just about finishing,” said Emma Cannon, who had 13 points vs. the Mystics. “We’ve been in a lot of those situations, so I feel like we’ve learned from them. We’ve had a lot of learning points from that.”
The victory was also Indiana’s second over Washington this season. The Mystics (11-9) are the only team the Fever have multiple wins over.
Indiana had all five starters finish the game in double-digits Wednesday, including Cannon. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 18 points, while Aliyah Boston and Victoria Vivians each had 11 and Erica Wheeler had 10.
“We talk about our team heartbeat, we talk about our culture, and what that really is is when these guys decide to play, when we get it together, we held it up,” Sides said.
Fending off the Mystics
The Fever had a solid 10-point lead with 40 seconds left in the game, but the Mystics didn’t go down without a fight. Washington attempted a ferocious comeback, hitting two 3-point shots in a 15-second span — decimating Indiana’s lead from 10 points to four.
“I think for this game, it was about remaining resilient,” Mitchell said. “… You’re playing against a really aggressive downhill team. For us, it was about making sure we withstand those runs when they made them.”
Washington (11-9) fouled Wheeler after its comeback, and Wheeler hit her two free throws to bring the lead back up to six points.
Finding consistency
The Fever’s Achilles heel this season was being consistent — Indiana could either have a productive first half or a productive second half.
On Wednesday, they figured out how to put two halves together.
The Fever seemingly had control of the game throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring at will and bucketing 26 points. Indiana outscored Washington in three of four quarters.
“Defense has been a main focus for us in practice,” Mitchell said. “To see ourselves kind of, like, translate it was like we’ve gotta pat ourselves on the back because we know how hard practice has been, and we know the stretches we’ve been on this season, and so it feels good.”
SOURCE: IndySports