Fever Enters All-Star Break With 74-62 Road Win Over Seattle

STAR OF THE GAME TAMIKA CATCHINGS Catchings scored a game-high 20 points, including three 3-pointers, to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Indiana to its first-ever win in Seattle. UNSUNG HERO ANNA DEFORGE DeForge finished with 15 points, three rebounds and had a season-high four steals. She scored six consecutive points during the Fever’s 12-0 run early in the third quarter. QUOTABLE BRIAN WINTERS In general: “This was a great road win. That is what we came here to do. We were really good defensively and took them out of their offense early. And we didn’t let up.” On Indiana’s third quarter run: “We came out of the locker room and scored on our first four possessions and didn’t give them any life. They went to a zone and got back in the game, but we really took care of things before it got to that point.” TAMIKA CATCHIINGS In general: “This was a huge win for us. Everybody was focused on getting a win before the All-Star break. We got the first few points of the third quarter and kept it going. We knew we couldn’t relax.” HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Fever 26, Storm 20 Second-chance points: Fever 7, Storm 9 Fast-break points: Fever 8, Storm 13 Points off turnovers: Fever 27, Storm 13 Starters scoring: Fever 64, Storm 53 Bench scoring: Fever 10, Storm 9

GAME REPORT
	Fever 74, Storm 62
July 9, 2006 at KeyArena (Seattle, WA) Box Score | WNBA Recap

SEATTLE, WA – The Indiana Fever scored 22 unanswered points across halftime before holding off a late run by Seattle in claiming a 74-62 road victory over the Storm Sunday night. The Fever now enters the All-Star break with a record of 13-7 and is currently third in the East standings, 1 ½ games behind the East-leading Connecticut Sun and ½ a game behind the Detroit Shock.

The win, which snapped a two-game losing streak for Indiana, was the first in Seattle in franchise history. The Fever had lost during its five previous trips to KeyArena.

Tamika Catchings scored a game-high 20 points, including three 3-pointers, to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Anna DeForge contributed 15 points, and added three rebounds and a season-high four steals.

Lauren Jackson led Seattle with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting and had six rebounds for the Storm, which had a season and franchise-high 28 turnovers in the game.

The first quarter saw four ties and seven lead changes with neither team able to build a substantial lead. Tully Bevilaqua’s break-away lay-up in the closing seconds of the first quarter gave Indiana a 14-12 lead after one.

With the game tied at 18, Catchings converted a 3-point play before creating a Seattle turnover and taking it coast-to-coast for an uncontested lay-up, giving Indiana a five-point advantage at 23-18.

The Fever would go on to outscore the Storm 17-4, including ten unanswered in the final five minutes of the second quarter to take a double-digit lead at halftime. Tamika Whitmore’s 3-pointer with one second left in the half extended Indiana’s lead to 35-22. Seattle’s 22 points in the first half was the lowest total for the Storm in a half this season.

Indiana took control of the game early in the second half, going on a 12-0 run to open the second quarter. Bevilauqa hit a 3-pointer before DeForge’s 3-point play extended Indiana’s lead to 19. DeForge and Catchings then dropped back-to-back 3’s as the Fever’s lead ballooned to 25. Indiana led by as many as 31 in the third quarter.

Trailing 57-26, the Storm would go on a 9-2 run to close out the third. Seattle continued its surge in the fourth, putting together a 15-2 run to cut Indiana’s lead down to just 11 with 4:27 left in regulation. Seattle’s Sue Bird hit a jumper with 2:25 left to make it a nine-point game. However, that is as close as the Storm would get in a valiant effort to come back from a 30-point second half deficit.