INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever put together a “focused” display on defense against the defending WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces. However, Indiana managed to lose 86-84 in overtime on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Fever held the Aces to 37.5% from the field and 15.4% from 3 in the first half and held a 42-22 lead with 3:08 left in the second quarter after a 22-4 run. Then things went awry. The Aces closed the quarter on a 15-0 run and opened the third period on a 7-0 run.
The Fever scored nine points in the third quarter and were only down 56-51 heading into the fourth. Coach Stephanie White contributed the Aces’ run to the Fever’s turnover woes. Indiana conceded 18 points off 22 turnovers.
“When we got them playing in the half court, we were excellent (on defense). It’s tough when you play a team that is defending champs (and) you give them easy opportunities in transition, and they get confidence,” White said. “Early in the game, our defense was good. At one point, they were shooting 34%, but then you give them layups in transition, you get a couple of those to go, you get a little juice and then you start knocking down some 3s and we were playing catch-up, but when we got them in the quarter court, our defense was pretty good.”
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Caitlin Clark missed two crucial free throws that would’ve given the Fever a 77-72 lead with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter. Aces guard Chelsea Gray hit the game-tying 3 at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. Clark turned the ball over with 6.6 seconds left in overtime while the Fever held an 84-83 lead. Gray came through once more and hit a 3 at the buzzer to slide the Fever to sixth in the league.
Clark took onus for the loss and said her missed free throws and turnover were “frustrating.” White shifted blame to the extra possessions the Aces received at the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter, during which Clark said the Fever went “flat.”
Despite stretches of defense lapses, the Fever held the Aces to 84 points on the night. The Fever allows 90.5 points per game, the fourth worst in the league. The Aces are third in the league in scoring, posting 91.8 points per game.
“We were pretty focused (on defense),” Fever center Aliyah Boston said. “We knew that for us, even if our shots didn’t go in, we had to lock in. We tried to make them shoot tough (2-pointer and 3-pointers). We could have done a better job cleaning up the boards. I don’t think they got as many points as they possibly could have off their second chance opportunities.”
Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson had eight points off 4-of-14 shooting entering the fourth quarter. Wilson scored 10 points on 3-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter and notched eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in overtime.
“We held her pretty good,” Boston said of the Fever’s defense on Wilson. “She’s a superstar, and the way she’s won MVPs, she’s gonna score baskets. They came in overtime, but they were jumpers. They weren’t just getting layups, and so we were happy with the way that we defended her. We’ll live with contested (2-pointers).”
The Fever were down 62-53 with 6:47 left in the fourth. They went on an 11-2 run over the next 2:33 to take a 65-64 lead. Indiana and Las Vegas battled to the final bell. White praised the Aces’ vets and acknowledged their experience as the reason they’re able to land the knock out punch in close-game situations.
“To be able to take a punch like that, and then we stood there. I don’t know a whole lot about boxing, but you know when you hold on right there, we kind of just held on,” White said. “And then we found a way to fight back. We have to learn from this because there have been too many games where we’ve had leads and we’ve relaxed and let teams back in it. We have to learn from it. We need to make plays.”
Still, White is “proud” of her team’s efforts against the second best team in the league.
“Early in the season, I’m not sure we would have responded the same way,” she said. “So we are better.”
Joshua Heron is an enterprise and Fever reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @HeronReports. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever lose to Las Vegas Aces despite ‘focused’ defense, against A’ja Wilson
Reporting by Joshua Heron, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Joshua Heron, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
