By Madie Chandler-Donahue | FeverBasketball.com
Just inside the final four minutes of Indiana’s Saturday matchup with the New York Liberty, Kelsey Mitchell rose up from deep, but was knocked off balance by New York’s Breanna Stewart. Mitchell’s 3-pointer dropped through the net anyway, and the Fever star didn’t even have time to get up off the floor before her teammates surrounded her in celebration.
The level-headed Mitchell let her joy peek through her stoic facade as Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Myisha Hines-Allen celebrated her poise to knock down such a difficult look.
“She hits tough shots like that and she gets up and she’s calm, cool, and collected,” Boston said. “So I think just as her teammates, we just wanted to show her that she’s really the greatest. And so we celebrate her in those moments.”
Mitchell picked apart the New York Liberty’s defense on Saturday as she dropped 33 points on the second night of a back-to-back after a 30-point performance against the Seattle Storm on Friday. Indiana defeated the Liberty, 108-88, bringing the Fever’s record to 16-10.
It was Mitchell’s 10th straight game with 20 or more points – the longest such streak in Fever franchise history, and marked just the eighth time in WNBA history a player has scored 20 or more points in 10 straight games in a single season.
“She loves to play,” coach Stephanie White said. “She’s always in the gym. She’s always working on her game. I think one of the things with Kelsey is that she’s learned how to play at different speeds. It keeps defenses off balance. She’s become a better facilitator. Again, [that] keeps defenses off balance, but she’s just somebody who can find multiple ways to score.”
Mitchell scored on all three levels on Saturday – she hit four 3-pointers, was lethal from the midrange, and converted three and-one opportunities.
“Her ability to cut and then finish through contact is some of the best I’ve ever seen,” Caitlin Clark said. “And it’s not like she’s a tall guard. Like she’s getting contested at the rim a lot, but I think that just speaks to her speed and her basketball IQ.”
Indiana trailed 28-22 after the first quarter on Saturday, and was down 10 points with just two minutes to play in the second quarter when Mitchell was fouled shooting beyond the arc. The foul was elevated to a flagrant 1 foul, and the Fever regained possession following Mitchell’s three made free throws. The inbound pass found Lexie Hull, who found Ty Harris, who found the bottom of the net from deep.
Six points resulted from that possession, and it all began with Mitchell’s 3-point attempt.
“She just comes in [and] she works,” Boston said. “She puts her head down [and] she works. She shows up every day the same way, no matter what, and she just continues to work…She can just score any way she wants at any point.”
Mitchell is averaging 27.9 points per game in the month of July, and 23.3 points per game for the season. She’s the league’s third-best scorer, trailing just Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson. Her 33-point performance on Saturday marks her 15th career 30-point game, and fourth this season.
“I like to think that all the success that I’ve had lately comes from my teammates,” Mitchell said. “[It] comes from the organization across the board. I just think it’s about chemistry. I want to see them win, and they want to see me win, so it’s a good relationship to have.”
Mitchell praises her teammates for her success and shies away from praise directed her way. She’s laser focused on Indiana’s higher goal, and is willing to do whatever it takes to help the Fever get there.
“She doesn’t care about the numbers,” White said of Mitchell postgame. “She doesn’t care about anything but winning. And that’s just that’s who she is.
“…She works at it. She loves to be in the gym, and she just wants to win. And I think it continues to show in her demeanor. I think it continues to show that she doesn’t get too high [or] too low. She just plays.”
About The Author
