Fever withstand Tulsa late game rally for fifth consecutive victory, 83-80
Indiana (8-6) held off the second-best team in the West late in the fourth quarter to win their fifth straight game. The Tulsa Shock (10-5) fought back from a 15-point deficit and got within 1 with just two minutes left in the game. Free throws from Marissa Coleman and Tamika Catchings in the last minute saved the Fever and they won 83-80 in front of over 6,400 fans at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Wednesday night.
For the first time since the end of the 2012 regular season, the Fever have won five consecutive contests. Catchings moved into third place on the WNBA’s career rebounding list in the first quarter of the game, passing Taj McWilliams-Franklin (3,013). Catchings (3,022) now needs only 49 rebounds to pass Tina Thompson (3,070) into second place on the list. She finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season and the 94th of her WNBA career – third in WNBA history.
Shavonte Zellous led Indiana with 16 points. Layshia Clarendon scored 13, had four rebounds and dished out four assists. Coleman was also in double figures with 11 points.
Tulsa came into Indiana after a grueling travel schedule that included missed connections due to bad weather. As a result, the team had little rest before the game. Riquna Williams led the Shock with a season-high 31 points plus seven rebounds. Courtney Paris scored 13 and grabbed 8 rebounds. Karima Christmas also had 13 points along with seven rebounds.
Notes
- The Fever finished with a season-high 42 total rebounds as they edged the Shock by two on the glass.
- Indiana is missing center Natalie Achonwa who is playing for the Canadian National Team in the Pan American Games. She will be back after the All-Star break.
- Natasha Howard totaled seven points and a career-high 11 rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
- With 30 points tonight in the first quarter, Indiana has now scored 30 or more points in a period four times this season, equaling the number of times they scored 30 or more in a quarter all of last season.
- Fever guard Shavonte Zellous returned to the floor after missing the last eight games with a back injury; she finished with a season-high 16 points on 5-for-11 from the field and 6-for-8 from the foul line.
- Indiana saw a streak of four games with a shooting percentage 50 percent or better come to an end as they shot 28-for-61 (45.9 percent) from the field.
- The Fever attempted a season-high 34 free throws, but shot under 75 percent from the foul line for the first time in seven games as they made only 22 (64.7 percent) of their attempts.
- During Indiana’s current five-game winning streak, the Fever have averaged 83.8 points per game on 50.3 percent shooting while limiting opponents to 71.0 points per game on 41.0 percent shooting.
Quotes
Fever head coach Stephanie White
“Lord I’m worn out. You know I’m really proud of the way we fought. Again it wasn’t always pretty. But that’s the great thing about this time of year where you’re really forming your identity and you’re finding ways to win when it’s not always easy. You’re finding out about the identity of your team. I thought we showed tremendous toughness. I thought we showed great fight. To be able to come away in the second half and scratch and claw, especially at the end of the ball game and make plays necessary to win. Obviously we turned it over at critical moments, we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, we missed free throws, didn’t shoot the ball especially well from the three point line, but still finding ways to win. And I think that shows the growth of our team. I’m really proud of each and every one of them for continuing to go out there and make our team better.”
Fever’s Shavonte Zellous
(How do you feel?)
“I actually feel pretty good. My back feels pretty good. You know just rehabbing and doing everything, the necessaries that I had to do to get back to playing allows me to feel like I feel now. So I feel pretty good.”
(On how comfortable she is being back with the team)
“I had a week to get my flow back, get back with the girls. I had to push myself through fatigue a little bit, but I know these girls. We played with each other last year so it wasn’t really hard just to get back into things.”
Fever’s Layshia Carendon
(On her balanced stats tonight)
“It was great. I think the best stat would be defense and that’s not on there. I think we’re all capable of scoring, assists. I love to play in the open court and that is what we got to do tonight. We got to run, push come, off of screens, get other people shots and threes in transition. So when the game is flowing I really thrive. So we were really up tempo tonight and I like to push the ball.”
Shock head coach Fred Williams
“I thought it was a hard fought game that could have gone either way there towards the end. We kind of buried ourselves there in the first quarter. Then in the third quarter it became a free throw fest. The opposition shot 17 out of 18. That’s kind of hard to do on the road, hang in there. I thought our team hung in there and we fought back to have some possessions at the end of the game to take the lead or tie it. Indiana made some key plays at end and we didn’t put the shots down like we needed to.”
Quoting the Shock’s Riquna Williams
(On the difference between the first and second half)
“Free throw line. Honestly that was the biggest key. And then we had some key components that got into foul trouble. Kind of hurt us a little.”
(On her play)
“Just go out and play hard every night. I know my role. I know what’s expected. I know that I have to compete at the highest level every night.”
Shock’s Karima Christmas
“I think we didn’t really buckle down on defense too much. We gave them a lot of free throws in the third quarter. I’m proud of the way we battled back in the fourth quarter. But we just kind of dug ourselves in a hole. If we start out stronger at the beginning it would be a much better game for us.”
(On the difference between the first and second half)
“We just came out kind of sluggish. We just got in today, so we’re trying to get our legs under us and just trying to fight through. And I think it came out in the second half, but you know we just started off too slow in the beginning. To be able to start of that way and try to get back in the game is really hard. I commend us for battling throughout it all.”
By the Numbers
Points in the Paint: Shock 38, Fever 30
Second Chance Points: Shock 16, Fever 10
Fastbreak Points: Shock 8, Fever 13
Biggest Lead: Shock 0, Fever 15
Lead Changes: 0
Times Tied: 1
