The REPORTER
The Indiana Fever (6-15) ended an eight-game losing skid with an 82-76 win on Wednesday afternoon against the Mystics in front of the largest crowd for a WNBA game this season.
Indiana’s leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell notched 18 points in the win on a 7-of-13 shooting clip to go along with a team-high five assists and four steals. With her 18 points, Mitchell earned her 136th career double-figures scoring game, which surpassed Katie Douglas’ 135 games to take sole possession of second place for most double-figure games in Fever history.
Mitchell’s stat line also marks the first time a Fever player has recorded at least 15 points, five assists and four steals since Briann January in 2014, per Across the Timeline.
Fever forward Emma Cannon came off the bench to contribute 13 points and five rebounds. In addition, Victoria Vivians and Aliyah Boston each pitched in 11 points, Erica Wheeler added 10 points, and Amanda Zahui B tied a season-high seven points.
Six Fever players pulled down at least three rebounds, highlighted by Boston’s eight rebounds, and five players dished out at least three assists. In addition, Vivians, Mitchell, Wheeler, Zahui B and Cannon combined for a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe.
Washington took the lead early as it opened the game with a 12-4 scoring run, but Indiana was quick to respond with a 7-0 scoring run of its own. The Fever had six players contribute to the eventual 19-8 scoring run in the first quarter, highlighted by Mitchell’s nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. Boston also added six points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting clip. The first frame ended with the Fever leading, 26-21.
Indiana held Washington to 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from the floor in the second frame, but were outscored, 15-13, heading into halftime. Vivians led the way for the Fever as she contributed six points on a perfect 2-of-2 shooting clip from beyond the three-point arc. After a quarter of six lead changes, Indiana came out of the first half ahead, 39-36.
The Fever gave away their lead halfway through the third quarter, but after roughly four minutes, Indiana was able to reduce the deficit and reclaim the lead after closing the third frame on a 9-0 scoring run. The run started at the 2:11 mark in the third quarter and would be stretched to 15-0 through the 7:23 mark in the fourth quarter and would eventually extend to 25-9 roughly four minutes later. Guided by Cannon’s eight points and Wheeler’s six points, the Fever extended the lead to as many as 11 points in the final frame and successfully closed out the game for the first win on the road against Washington since 2016.
For Washington, the Mystics were led by Natasha Cloud’s 19 points and Tianna Hawkins’ 13 points. Queen Egbo tied a season-high 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor to go along with five rebounds and three blocks. Brittney Sykes contributed nine points and a game-high seven assists. Washington shot a season-low 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the free-throw line on Wednesday.