Steals, Steals and More Steals!

September 9, 2009
Tamika Catchings had six steals in Tuesday's win over the New York Liberty, and the Fever posted 13 as a team. After nearly an entire season in which the Fever has once again led the WNBA in defense and steals, and in which Catchings is positioned nicely for an unprecedented fifth steals title and a third Defensive Player of the Year Award -- FeverBasketball.com has made note of some remarkable steals numbers to share with Fever fans.

Without further adieu, we present to you a plethora of steals notes for the Indiana Fever:

  • Catchings needs four steals in the Fever’s final two games to break the league’s all-time mark for steals in a single season.

    WNBA Single-Season Steals Leaders
    100, Teresa Weatherspoon, 1998
    97, Tamika Catchings, 2009
    94, Tamika Catchings, 2006
    94, Tamika Catchings, 2002
    90, Tamika Catchings, 2005

  • Catchings (629) also needs exactly four steals to move past Sheryl Swoopes (632) in the No. 2 position on the league’s all-time steals chart. Ticha Penicheiro paces all career leaders with 682.

  • In 2006, Catchings (94) and Bevilaqua (71) combined for what was a WNBA-record 165 steals by a tandem. With two games to play, the duo currently has 157, eight shy of tying that mark. In 2009, Catchings has 97, Bevilaqua has 60.

  • Last season, Indiana became the first team in WNBA history to boast five different players with at least 40 steals. For that to happen again this year, rookie Briann January (34) needs six steals to become the fifth Fever player with 40+ steals.

  • Similarly, Indiana already has had four players record 50 or more steals (Catchings-97, Bevilaqua-60, Hoffman-54, Douglas-52). We are researching if that might be a first! Likewise, there is an outside chance of three Fever players with 60 steals or more, which also may be a WNBA first.

  • Indiana needs just three steals to break its own mark of total steals by a team in one season. Similarly, the Fever’s current average of 11.00 steals per game is ranked fourth all-time – and the best since a 34-game schedule came into play in 2003.

    Total Team Steals, All-Time
    354 - Indiana, 2006
    352 – Indiana, 2009
    343 - Phoenix, 1997
    336 - Indiana, 2005
    332 - Sacramento, 2000
    332 - Houston, 1998
    330 - Sacramento, 2006
    329 - Sacramento, 1999
    325 - Sacramento, 2007
    324 - Indiana, 2008
    320 - Orlando, 2001

    Team Steals Per Game, All-Time
    12.25 - Phoenix, 1997 (28 gms)
    11.11 - Houston, 1997 (28 gms)
    11.07 - Houston, 1998 (30 gms)
    11.00 - Indiana, 2009 (34 gms - currently through 32 gms)
    10.41 - Indiana, 2006 (34 gms)
    10.38 - Sacramento, 2000 (32 gms)
    10.32 – New York, 1997 (28 gms)
    10.28 - Sacramento, 1999 (32 gms)
    10.00 - Orlando, 2001 (32 gms)
    9.88 - Indiana, 2005 (34 gms)