Turning the Corner: The Indiana Fever’s first win and what comes next
The Indiana Fever had been battling for their first win of the WNBA regular season for almost an entire month. After an 0–10 start to the season, it clicked. When that first win finally came this past weekend, it came on the shoulders of some of the league’s youngest players.
Saturday’s 96–64 home win over the Atlanta Dream came just two days after dropping their previous game in Atlanta 72–67. So how did the Fever swing from a five point loss to a 32 point victory against the same opponent in the span of two days? According to the Fever’s most experienced player, Candice Dupree, it all came down to focus and intensity. Going into the game, this one just felt different. “We were high energy today, and it needs to be like that every game,” she said following the win. “No more letups.”
End-of-game lapses have plagued the Fever throughout the season. Each of their previous seven games has been lost by a single-digit margin. On Saturday, they were intent on keeping their focus all the way through.
After a close start to the game, they began the second half in a three point hole. The Fever kept it close in the first half primarily through hard work on the offensive and defensive glass. Rookie Stephanie Mavunga pulled down six rebounds in the first half. She was off to a strong start before going down with an ankle injury in the third quarter. Once she’s back on the court, she could grow into a dominant post presence for the Fever.
Once the second half was underway, the Fever’s young stars turned it on. In the span of just over three minutes, rookie Victoria Vivians nailed all three of her three-point attempts. Vivians had been tasked with guarding the Dream’s second leading scorer, Angel McCoughtry. That defensive challenge kept her locked into the game on both ends.
“My defense really got me going,” she said. “Knowing I had to guard one of the best players on their team, that motivated me to do better.” Vivians and the Fever will have plenty of opportunities to take on high-octane scorers, as they face the Los Angeles Sparks’ Candace Parker and the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart in their upcoming West Coast road trip.
The Fever hope that they have turned a corner this weekend. Their young players have been thrown into the fire right off the bat. Four of the Fever’s five regular starters have each completed less than three seasons of professional basketball. Two of those starters are rookies. Those two rookies, Victoria Vivians and Kelsey Mitchell, were the leading scorers for Indiana and combined for 40 of the Fever’s 96 points. As the Fever’s veteran starter, Dupree has been looked to as a leader on and off the court.
She’s the team’s second leading scorer as well as their second leading rebounder. Beyond the stat sheet, Dupree has been a source of guidance and stability through the Fever’s bumpy start to the season. “You know, it’s a good thing I have this short hair, because otherwise you’d see a lot of grey right now,” Dupree said with a laugh after her team grabbed their first win.
This team has a lot of potential, a lot of room to grow, and Dupree, Mitchell, and Vivians all feel that this game was the turning point. “It’s all a process,” said Mitchell. That process has really been unfolding over the past few weeks. The Fever had been drawing closer and closer to that first win with each week, and it seemed like only a matter of time before that breakthrough came. The pieces have been there, but putting it all together had proven to be a struggle until this point.
Often, the mental aspect of adjusting to a new team and settling in with a new team takes the longest. With so many new key parts to the whole, the Fever have had to learn how to gel with one another and play as a unit. Playing with and against an entirely new crop of players can come with many challenges, but that can be where the biggest strides are made. When asked about where she’s seen the most improvement, Mitchell said, “Just knowing personnel […] We’re getting to know what players can and can’t do.”
“Hopefully you can take this and it’ll be a million steps forward and not back,” she finished. The Fever are back in action on Tuesday, June 19 as they take on the Los Angeles Sparks at 10:30 ET/7:30 PT.
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