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Fever stays hot, wins franchise-best tying sixth straight
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INDIANAPOLIS -- After two 17-point comebacks in as many games, the Indiana Fever almost got a taste of its on medicine.
The Fever saw a 17-point lead vanish to eight in the matter of seconds, but Indiana held on for a 63-54 victory over the New York Liberty on Saturday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"I looked up at the clock and saw that we were up 17 and I said 'uh-oh'," said Fever coach Lin Dunn. "Sure enough, that's exactly when they made their run. But we knew they were going to make another run, this is a great team."
Both teams played Friday night in New York so the quality of basketball wasn't the best, but Dunn was just happy to get a win.
"I thought it was a good sign for us that we didn't shoot well, we looked fatigued, and we were still able to win," she said. "Our defense stepped it up and I thought we got some good help from our bench."
Ebony Hoffman led a balanced Fever scoring attack with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Tamika Catchings added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Tully Bevilaqua had 13 points and three 3-pointers.
Perhaps the key point of the game came in the second quarter when Indiana was able to rest four of its five starters for the majority of the period without losing anything on the scoreboard. The Fever (6-2) outscored New York 21-8 in the quarter while holding the Liberty to 3-of-22 shooting from the field.
Hoffman loved the help from the bench.
"We have great bench players that come in and give us a lift, especially on back-to-back days when we're not feeling so hot," she said. "We needed them bad today because it was such a quick turnaround. It was almost like 'God, we need help'."
Indiana managed to stay close early even after missing its first eight shots from the field. Katie Douglas, the team's leading scorer at 19.1 ppg, converted only three of her 14 attempts and finished with 11 points.
"I thought she looked fatigued," Dunn said. "She had a great game last night and everything tonight looked a little bit flat for her."
The defense, however, continued to be solid as the Fever held New York to 33 percent shooting (20-of-60). Shameka Christon, who game into the game as the WNBA's eighth best scorer, was held to 11 points on 2-of-10 shooting.
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