Early Lead Generated Fever Win

STAR OF THE GAME Tamika Catchings Catchings shined in the Fever victory with 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and one steal. UNSUNG HERO Tully Bevilaqua Bevilaqua contributed in all the right areas adding four steals, three assists, two rebounds, one block and six points. QUOTABLE Tamika Catchings On the perimeter scoring: “New York double-teamed our posts so hard, it opened some good looks on the perimeter, and we knocked our shots down.” Brian Winters On the game in general: “We’ve been talking a lot about sustaining our effort longer, and playing hard. We did a better job of that tonight, than in our last home game. I was happy with our start. We were very aggressive and helped each other on defense. We made them turn it over a little bit, and we contested their shots. We wanted to establish ourselves early, and then sustain it. And I think we did.” HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Fever 23, Liberty 26 Second-chance points: Fever 9, Liberty 11 Fast-break points: Fever 6, Liberty 6 Points off turnovers: Fever 26, Liberty 17 Starters scoring: Fever 60, Liberty 36 Bench scoring: Fever 14, Liberty 27

GAME REPORT
	Fever 74, Liberty 63
June 24, 2007 Madison Square Garden (New York, NY) Box Score | WNBA Recap

NEW YORK(AP) Tamika Catchings scored 18 points and Tamika Whitmore had 15 to lead the Indiana Fever to a 74-63 victory over the suddenly struggling New York Liberty on Sunday.

Tammy Sutton-Brown added 11 points and Anna DeForge 10 points to help the Fever (10-3) pull within a half-game of first-place Detroit in the Eastern Conference.

Loree Moore scored 17 points, Cathrine Kraayeveld and Janel McCarville added 13 apiece, and Lisa Willis had 12 for New York (7-6). The Liberty lost for the sixth time in eight games after a franchise-best 5-0 start.

Kraayeveld hit three free throws and had a fastbreak layup in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to cap a 9-0 run. Willis then hit a 3 and Moore had a layup to cut the deficit to 57-50 with 6:19 left.

Willis hit another 3 and then a turnaround jumper that pulled the Liberty to 63-57 and energized the Madison Square Garden crowd with about 3 1/2 minutes to go. However, the Fever followed with a 7-1 run to pull away.

Indiana opened the game with a 10-0 run and never trailed. Whitmore's layup with 33 seconds left in the first quarter capped a 9-0 run and pushed the lead to 22-7. The Fever scored 11 straight points spanning halftime to take a 44-22 lead, their biggest of the game, on Whitmore's jumper with 8:19 to go in the third quarter.

The Liberty played without Erin Thorn and Shameka Christon. Thorn has a sprained left foot and is expected to miss a week, and Christon was sick.

New York made 3 of 11 shots in the first quarter while committing 10 of their 15 first-half turnovers.

Indiana led 38-22 at halftime while shooting 50 percent from the field (14 of 28).