Big Second Half Lifts Indiana To 75-60 Win Over Sacramento

STAR OF THE GAME TAMIKA WHITMORE Whitmore led all scorers with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting. She was also 7-of-8 from the foul line, while adding five rebounds and two assists. UNSUNG HERO TAN WHITE White had 12 points off the bench for Indiana in 22 minutes. She earned her points from the free throw line, hitting 6-of-10 for the game. QUOTABLE BRIAN WINTERS In general: “Our bench played well tonight and we needed it. Catch (Tamika Catchings) was a bit under the weather tonight. Tan (White) and Tangie’s (La’Tangela Atkinson) driving to the basket really picked us up. By driving to the basket, we got into the penalty early.” “Sacramento is a very good team. They play very good defense and they are the defending champs. We didn’t allow too many threes and that helped us tremendously.” TAMIKA CATCHINGS On second half turn-around: “We stayed focused on defense and keeping them off the boards. As a team we played great defense holding their starters from double figure scoring. We were focused on how bad a team we were in Sacramento. One focus was to keep them from shooting threes.” HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Monarchs 28, Fever 30 Second-chance points: Monarchs 12, Fever 4 Fast-break points: Monarchs 4, Fever 4 Points off turnovers: Monarchs 15, Fever 15 Starters scoring: Monarchs 28, Fever 47 Bench scoring: Monarchs 32, Fever 28

GAME REPORT
	Fever 75, Monarchs 60
July 25, 2006 at Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.) Box Score | WNBA Recap

INDIANAPOLIS – The Fever outscored the defending WNBA champion Sacramento Monarchs 49-31 in the second half and shot 54.5 percent from the field for the game before capturing a 75-60 win Tuesday night in Conseco Fieldhouse. Indiana’s field goal percentage Tuesday was the second-highest in franchise history, and highest-ever while playing in Conseco.

It was the first loss to an Eastern Conference opponent for Sacramento this season (9-1). The Monarchs, which came in riding a seven-game winning streak, dropped its first game since a 77-62 loss in Houston July 2.

Tamika Whitmore scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting as Indiana improved its record to 16-9. Tamika Catchings followed with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Both Tan White and La’Tangela Atkinson saw extensive minutes off the bench for the Fever. White had 12 points in 22 minutes, while Atkinson added 11 during her 20 minutes on the floor.

DeMya Walker led all Sacramento scorers with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the Monarchs’ bench. Sacramento (16-9) had ten players break the scoring column, however, Walker was the only player to reach double figures.

Trailing 23-19, Tully Bevilaqua hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to pull Indiana within one of Sacramento at the 3:55 mark of the second quarter. Atkinson then put the Fever back in front for the first time since early in the first quarter on a left-handed lay-up in traffic.

Following another bucket from Atkinson, the Monarchs scored the final six points of the half to re-gain the lead. Erin Buescher’s lay-up made the score 26-25, Indiana. Moments later, Yolanda Griffith hit a pair of free throws before knocking down a 13-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining to give Sacramento a 29-26 halftime advantage.

The Fever used an 11-0 run to turn a seven-point third quarter deficit into a four-point lead. Eight of Indiana’s 11 points during that stretch came from the free throw line. A Catchings bank-shot would give the Fever its first double-digit lead of the game, 53-42, late in the third. After scoring just 26 points in the first half, Indiana put up 27 third quarter points to take a 53-43 lead into the fourth quarter.

Down by 13, Sacramento used a 9-2 run to make it a two possession game. Nicole Powell’s lay-up pulled the Monarchs to within six of the Fever at 60-54 midway through the fourth. Indiana, though, scored six of the game’s next eight points to go back in front by double digits.