INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever’s bad luck continues on the injury front.
Indiana announced Thursday that Chloe Bibby, who has missed four games with a left knee injury, is out for the season, marking the fourth season-ending injury for Indiana this year. She suffered the injury pregame on Aug. 22, when coach Stephanie White said Bibby “felt something” while warming up. Bibby then was out the next three games, available but didn’t play against Los Angeles on Aug. 29, then was ruled out against Golden State and Phoenix.
White originally said when Bibby was ruled out against Golden State on Aug. 31 she didn’t consider it a setback.
“Not so much a setback, it’s just, I think with all the travel and everything, it just swelled up and swelled up so much that it’s caused some issues,” White said.
Now it’s evident Bibby had a setback enough to rule her out for the season. The Fever have about a week left in the regular season, wrapping up against Minnesota on Sept. 9, then would start the playoffs on Sept. 14 assuming a playoff berth.
To accommodate for Bibby’s injury, the Fever have signed Bree Hall, their No. 20 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. Hall, a South Carolina alum, spent training camp with the Fever, playing in two preseason games before she was waived.
Hall has bounced around the league since then, signing multiple hardship contracts with the Valkyries throughout the season. She was on the Valkyries when the Fever played in San Francisco on Aug. 31, but did not enter the game.
With five injuries, including an ongoing right groin injury to Caitlin Clark that has kept her out since July 16, the Fever have four players on hardship contracts: Hall, Odyssey Sims, Aerial Powers and Shey Peddy. The Fever will be eligible for at least three hardship contracts for the rest of the season (including playoffs) and four as long as Clark remains out.
Hall and Sims are signed to rest-of-season contracts, meaning they will be eligible for the playoffs. Powers and Peddy are currently signed to seven-day contracts, which means they aren’t eligible for the playoffs at this moment. One or both of them will need to sign rest-of-season contracts before the end of the regular season in order to be eligible for the playoffs.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: With another Fever player out for season with injury, Indiana brings back 2025 draft pick
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
