| STAR OF THE GAME |
Tammy Sutton-Brown
Sutton-Brown scored a season-high 19 points including 7-of-8 shooting at the free throw line.
|
UNSUNG HERO |
Tan White
White nailed three three-pointers on her way to 15 points to go along with two blocked shots.
|
QUOTABLE |
Lin Dunn
General:
“This is the best 1-7 team I've ever seen. I am very pleased with our bench, especially (LaToya) Bond and (Sherill) Baker. We were even with them on the boards. We had too many turnovers. We did a good job getting to the free throw line. At the beginning of the third quarter we came out in a relaxed mode. Thank goodness we were up by 16. We must address this."
|
Katie Douglas
On Fever's Slow Start:
“I was pleased with the way we started the first half. We had a lot of energy playing a Western Conference opponent that we don't know very well and had a nice lead going into the half. In the third quarter we didn't change our mentality. We came out flat. Houston could have changed the game around if we hadn't refocused after the timeout."
|
HIDDEN NUMBERS |
Points in the paint:
Fever 30, Comets 34
Second-chance points:
Fever 12, Comets 10
Fast-break points:
Fever 14, Comets 12
Points off turnovers:
Fever 20, Comets 17
Starters scoring:
Fever 64, Comets 49
Bench scoring:
Fever 20, Comets 26
|
|
| Team |
Record |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
| Houston |
1-7 |
20 |
12 |
16 |
27 |
75 |
| at Indiana |
4-2 |
26 |
22 |
17 |
19 |
84 |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Katie Douglas scored 20 points and Tammy Sutton-Brown added 19 as the Indiana Fever beat the Houston Comets 84-75 on Saturday night.
Tan White scored 15 points and Sherill Baker added 10 for Indiana (4-2).
Tina Thompson led Houston with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Michelle Snow, Tamecka Dixon and Erica White each scored 10 points for the Comets (1-7).
Douglas shot just 6-for-17, but she made three 3-pointers and 5 of 6 free-throw attempts.
The Fever continued to play well while awaiting forward Tamika Catchings' return. The five-time All-Star has not played this season while recovering from a torn right Achilles' tendon in last year's playoffs.
Both teams shot 28-for-64 from the field, but the Fever outscored the Comets 22-13 on free throws.
White's leaning baseline jumper at the halftime buzzer gave the Fever a 48-32 lead. Douglas scored 15 points before the break, and the Fever held Houston to 32 percent shooting in the first half. Indiana also went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in the first 20 minutes.
Houston started the second half on a 10-0 run to cut Indiana's lead to 48-42, but the Fever responded with an 8-0 run and held the Comets scoreless for three minutes to regain control.
LaToya Bond made a layup with one second left in the third quarter to give the Fever a 65-48 lead.
Tonight's win is the Fever's fourth in a row against the Comets. Indiana had won just one of its first 11 games against Houston.
With her 10 rebounds tonight, Ebony Hoffman led the Fever in rebounds for the fifth straight game. She has collected 10+ rebounds in four of the last five contests. Among the league leaders in offensive rebounds, Hoffman was the only Indiana player with more than one offensive board tonight and she had three, giving her an average of 2.83 orpg in 2008.
Hoffman added a team-high tying four assists and she has tied for the team lead in assists twice in the first six games of 2008.
The Fever's 48 first-half points and 84 points total tonight are both its most this season.
Tammy Sutton-Brown's 19 points are a season-high and tied her most since scoring 20 points at Houston, 7/10/07
Tina Thompson's team-high 19 points featured a career-high tying five 3-pt FG. She has made five 3-pt FG four times in her career.
Houston guards Matee Ajavon and Shannon Johnson were a combined 0-9 from the floor, while the rest of the team shot better than 50 percent from the floor on 28-55 FG (.509).
Including 6-8 FT, Sherill Baker scored in double figures for the first time in a Fever uniform with a bench-high 10 points. Baker's eight attempts from the foul line tied her career-high. Baker is only the second Fever reserve to score 10+ points in a game this season. Bernadette Ngoyisa scored 14 points in the Fever's win vs. L.A., 5/29.
Tying her most this season, Tully Bevilaqua collected a game-high four steals, as the Fever tied a season-high with 11 thefts as a team. Bevilaqua is one of two Fever players (along with Feaster) that has more steals (14) than turnovers (10). She entered tonight's game seventh in the league in steals-to-turnover ratio (1.25:1).
Including a 12-2 difference in the first period, the Comets outscored the Fever, 34-30, in the paint.
Tan White has four blocked shots this season, including her career-high tying, and team-leading, two tonight.
With their 84 points tonight, the Fever has scored 80+ points in a non-overtime for the first time since an 89-80 loss to Detroit, 7/20/07. 84 points is the Fever's most in a regulation game since scoring 86 points vs. Chicago, 7/5/07.
