The Fever found themselves trailing by 15 points with under four minutes to play in the opening contest of a four-game homestand, but Indiana wasn’t going to go down without a fight. An 8-0 run in crunch time had the Fever within seven points of the lead, 80-73, heading into the final two minutes of play.
Indiana went on to score just two points in the final 1:43, and fell to Golden State, 88-75.
The Valkyries entered Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a seven-game winning streak in tow, but Indiana came into the contest on the heels of a 34-point victory in Las Vegas on Sunday. Indiana couldn’t translate that win into momentum on Wednesday, and struggled to find a groove in the first half.
“Our mentality to start the ball game needed to be better,” Coach Stephanie White said postgame. “And when you spend all of that energy trying to come back at multiple points in the game, it becomes a hard road.”
The Golden State defense held the Fever to their worst offensive half on Wednesday as it limited Indiana to just 30 first-half points. A third quarter rally had the Fever trailing by seven heading into the fourth quarter, 58-51, but Indiana needed a boost of energy.
Kelsey Mitchell was often Indiana’s response in the Fever’s loss to the Valkyries, and led the Fever with 20 points. Mitchell extended a personal streak of double-digit scoring to 39 straight games in double figures as she notched 20 points against Golden State. Her streak is the second longest active streak in the WNBA, second only to reigning MVP A’ja Wilson.
Mitchell’s eight points in the fourth quarter were critical to Indiana’s attempt at a comeback, but the Fever couldn’t overcome their offensive challenges down the stretch. Indiana committed 16 turnovers – six in the fourth quarter – that led to 22 Golden State points.
“The turnovers kill you when you’re trying to mount a comeback, and when you’re trying to give yourself an opportunity against a team that doesn’t typically give you those possessions back,” White said on Wednesday.
The Valkyries’ defense overwhelmed the Fever – Indiana recorded its lowest point total on Wednesday, and shot 40 percent from the floor to Golden State’s 51 percent. Golden State was successful in slowing down the high-pace Fever, and it resulted in a franchise record eighth straight win for the visitors.
“They definitely slowed the pace down, and at the end of the day, we’ve got to play what works for us,” Sophie Cunningham said. “We’ve got to keep our pace high, we’ve got to play our defensive schemes, take care of business on the defensive end, get boards, and run. That’s what we’re good at. We have great people who are awesome in the open court, and so I just think we lacked pace tonight, honestly.”
The Fever will look to bounce back on Friday as they host the Seattle Storm in the first night of back-to-back contests. After the Storm visit Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, the New York Liberty come to town for a matchup on Saturday. Indiana’s homestand concludes with a clash with the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, July 22.
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