Fever Holds Off Shock for Third Straight Win

STAR OF THE GAME TAMIKA CATCHINGS Catchings continued her recently improved shooting, converting 6-of-10 field goals and finishing with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. UNSUNG HERO JURGITA STREIMIKYTE In her third straight start of the season, Streimikyte scored eight points on 4-of-9 shooting in 27 minutes of play. She added two rebounds and an assist for good measure. QUOTABLE BRIAN WINTERS On Tan White’s rebound after two FT misses in the final seconds: “Tamika kept the ball alive and Tan grabbed it. She had the presence of mind to get out of the lane and dribble away from another foul to stop the clock. That was intelligent play, and it is little things like that that win close ball games.” On another close game with Detroit: “Both of our teams are physical, strong, good rebounding teams, and we’re very evenly matched. Any of our three games with Detroit could have gone the other way. We went to overtime with them in our first win, and we’ve gone to the wire with them twice in the past three days. We have to feel good about beating another good time three times in a row.” On the win streak: “Our team is feeling good about themselves right now and we’re happy to get this win. Any time you win a close game on the road, you have to feel good about it. We’re confident and we’re doing little things that matter. We didn’t shoot really well again today, but we’ve continued to play good defense and force turnovers. We did the things we had to do to win.” HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Shock 28, Fever 12 Fast-break points: Shock 8, Fever 4 Second-chance points: Shock 11, Fever 4 Points off turnovers: Fever 26, Shock 9 Starters scoring: Fever 47, Shock 38 Bench scoring: Shock 20, Fever 12 RELATED LINKS Box Score | WNBA Recap

GAME REPORT
	Fever 59, Shock 58
July 17, 2005 at the Palace (Auburn Hills, Mich.)

``She did many things,'' Fever coach Brian Winters said. ``She led us in scoring, but she also made a lot good plays and only had two turnovers.''

Kelly Miller added 10 points for the Fever, who beat the Shock 62-57 at home Friday night. Indiana raised its record to 8-1 against Eastern Conference opponents, best in the WNBA.

``We made a few mistakes down the stretch, but the biggest thing was just trying to keep our composure,'' Catchings said. ``If we make a mistake, we are trying to figure out a way to get the ball back and do whatever we need to do to stay ahead.''

Cheryl Ford had 18 points for Detroit, but the other four starters, including All-Stars Deanna Nolan, Swin Cash and Ruth Riley, combined for just 20.

Indiana broke open a tie game with an 11-2 run to take a 37-28 lead four minutes into the second half. The Fever stretched the lead to 47-37 on Deanna Jackson's free throws with 10:15 remaining, before Detroit started chipping away.

Detroit pulled within 51-49 with 3:50 left, but five missed free throws slowed their rally.

Tully Bevilaqua hit a desperate 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the Fever's lead to 56-51 lead with 2:44 left.

The Shock had a chance to pull within one with 1 minute left, but Deanna Nolan missed a fastbreak layup and Ford fouled Catchings on the rebound.

Catchings made one free throw, putting the Fever up 59-55, and Kara Braxton made one at the other end to cut Detroit's deficit to three with 46 seconds left.

Bevilaqua missed a 3-pointer and Ford hit a layup to make it a one-point game with 5 seconds left.

Detroit then fouled Tan White, who missed both free throws, but grabbed her own rebound after Catchings tipped it, and dribbled out the clock to secure the Fever's win.

``Hopefully, we can use this to get some momentum,'' Catchings said. ``We want to keep going.''

Indiana led 26-23 at the break after a sloppy first half in which the teams combined for 24 turnovers. Detroit committed 24 turnovers overall, matching the season-high it set on Friday against the Fever. Indiana also forced Eastern Conference-leading Connecticut into its season-high of 24 turnovers to begin the three-game streak. In all three wins, the Fever has held its opponent under 60 points.