Indiana Fever play shutdown defense in 72-48 win over Seattle Storm
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Briann January shook her head in disbelief when she heard the numbers.
Tamika Catchings simply smiled.
The Indiana Fever shot 33 percent from the field against the Seattle Storm and somehow won by 24 points.
Wow, January said as she tried to grasp the significance of what she’d heard.
Katie Douglas scored 16 points, and the Fever defeated the Storm 72-48 on Wednesday night to clinch homecourt advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Storm might want to abandon their tradition of standing until they score. The Fever held them without a point for the first 4:50 in taking a 10-0 lead.
Seattle played without its starting backcourt. Point guard Sue Bird, the Storm’s leading scorer, rested, and Tanisha Wright sat out with a groin strain.
We didn’t think about that, we didn’t talk about that, we just talked about going out there, no matter who played, and just focusing on us, Catchings said. I felt like tonight, we got better as a team.
The Fever forced a franchise record 28 turnovers. Indiana also tallied a season-high 17 steals and allowed a season-low point total. The previous low in points allowed was 61 against Connecticut on June 21.
The Fever got away with their poor shooting by making 10 3-pointers and outscoring the Storm 14-4 from the free-throw line.
Shooting comes and goes, Catchings said. That’s part of the game. But the one thing that can remain consistent is how you play defense, and I felt like defensively, from the first minute to the 40th minute, everybody was ready.
Catchings had 13 points, seven rebounds and a season-high six steals for the Fever (20-9), which have won eight of nine. The Fever are 10-2 since the Olympic break and remain in contention for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Indiana played well, Seattle coach Brian Agler said. We were outnumbered and the score showed it. They outhustled us, and our turnovers hurt us.
Svetlana Abrosimova had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Storm (13-16).
Seattle center Lauren Jackson finished with four points on 2-for-10 shooting and committed seven turnovers.
The Fever have won at least 20 games for the fourth straight year and are within range of their franchise record of 22 wins with five games remaining. Indiana set the record in 2009, the year the team lost to Phoenix in the WNBA Finals.
It obviously shows consistency, Catchings said. And when you look at the success we’ve had with the core group we’ve built around, it just shows the focus and how far our team has gone. On another hand, we need to get over the hump when you’re that consistent and need to get to the playoffs and win a championship.
Indiana led 35-26 at halftime, despite shooting 32 percent from the field. The Fever forced 15 turnovers before the break.
Indiana led by double digits for much of the third quarter. Seattle closed the gap before Douglas hit a 3-pointer to make it 49-37. A 3-pointer by Jeanette Pohlen and a layup by Erin Phillips late in the period expanded the lead to 56-37. Pohlen drained another three with 0.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make the lead 59-37 at the end of the period.
It was a perfect tune-up for Minnesota.
We did what we needed to do to win, Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. We will now get refocused to play the defending champions on Friday.
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