Atlanta Dream beat Indiana Fever 75-66 in WNBA playoffs
By BECCA BORNHORST
ISL Correspondent
The Indiana Fever fell to the Atlanta Dream 75-66 in the first game of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Lindsey Harding led the Dream with 23 points and Angel McCoughtry added 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Atlanta came out of the gates hot, going on an 11-0 run and grabbing seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter.
It goes without saying, they started the game with more energy and more urgency and it’s hard to overcome a slow start, Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. We wanted to punch first, Harding said. We wanted to get up on them, use our quickness and strength and not just match up with them, but put a lot of pressure on the ball.
Atlanta did just that, forcing 19 Indiana turnovers. The Dream out rebounded the Fever 40-29 and had five more second chance shot opportunities.
[Rebounding] is something that we’ve struggled with all year, Tamika Catchings said. Going into the series we knew that Atlanta was one of the top rebounding teams in the league. We all have to take more responsibility as a team.
Five Fever players scored in double figures led by Katie Douglas’ 13 points. Catchings finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, recording her 19th double-double in 38 career playoff games. Point guard Briann January also scored 10 points despite spending the third quarter in the training room after taking an elbow to her midsection late in the first half.
The doctors were reluctant to let me go in and they wanted to make sure I was alright but this is playoff time, this is gut check time, January said. I wanted to be out there battling with them because you don’t get these opportunities often.
January helped charge a 13-0 run late in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to three with 1:36 remaining, but Harding answered with a trey the next possession and Indiana did not get any closer.
I did think that we fought back and looked like the Indiana team I recognized in the fourth quarter, Coach Dunn said. It took us three quarters to wake up. We need to regroup, bring our A game and start with energy and intensity.
The Fever, who lost 2-1 to Atlanta in last year’s Eastern Conference finals, will have another chance at the Dream on Sunday in Atlanta.
We’ll be ready Sunday, Douglas said. We’re going to take 11 women, our coaches and staff. We need to go with more of a sense of urgency and start with more confidence.
