Fever Ties Franchise Record For Wins In A Season

STAR OF THE GAME ANNA DEFORGE DeForge posted a game-high 20 points, including four 3’s, on 8-of-14 shooting. She scored 15 first half points as Indiana built its lead. UNSUNG HERO TAMIKA CATCHINGS Catchings had 19 points and seven rebounds in the game. Her 3-point play early in the fourth quarter gave Indiana a double-figure lead it never relinquished. QUOTABLE BRIAN WINTERS On beating the Sun: “Any time you beat the Connecticut Sun, you’ve had a good night. They are obviously a great team – they had a long winning streak and the best record in the WNBA – but we had a little bit more to play for tonight.” On home-court advantage vs. Detroit: “Whether we are home or away in that first game, you’ve got to go out and win two games, and move on. That’s all that matters and you can bet Detroit will be ready to play no matter the games are, also. We’ve got to beat Chicago on Sunday and then worry about where we play next.” TAMIKA CATCHINGS On the playoff race: “I think we’ll go into Sunday’s game with a very aggressive attitude, like we did tonight. And I think we’ll take that same attitude into the playoffs, no matter where we play first. We would love to play at home twice, but if we get [Detroit] at home on Thursday, we’ll have a little bit of an underdog attitude and they’ll have to beat us on our home court.” HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Fever 40, Sun 38 Second-chance points: Fever 7, Sun 12 Fast-break points: Fever 6, Sun 8 Points off turnovers: Fever 27, Sun 5 Starters scoring: Fever 63, Sun 60 Bench scoring: Fever 24, Sun 8

GAME REPORT
	Fever 87, Sun 68
August 11, 2006 at Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, CT) Box Score | WNBA Recap

Uncasville, CT – The Indiana Fever shot 50 percent from the floor and netted nine 3’s before capturing an 87-68 road win over the Connecticut Sun Friday night. The win, coupled with Detroit’s loss to Washington, kept the Fever in the hunt for home-court advantage in its upcoming first round playoff series with the Detroit Shock.

Indiana finished its road schedule above .500 (9-8) for the first time in franchise history and has now tied last year’s mark for the most wins in franchise history (21). The Fever’s 87 points Friday was the second-highest total scored against the Sun this season.

Anna DeForge scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including four 3’s, as the Fever improved its record to 21-12. Tamika Catchings followed DeForge with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Connecticut (26-7) had four starters score in double-figures, led by Nykesha Sales’ 17. Lindsay Whalen added 16 for the Sun, which has already secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and best record in the WNBA.

Indiana trailed 12-4 early following an 8-0 run by the Sun. The Fever crept back in the game from the 3-point line, hitting three 3’s late in the first quarter before tying the game at 23. Whalen led all scorers in the game’s opening ten minutes with 13 first quarter points for Connecticut.

The Fever outscored the Sun 9-1 to open the second quarter, racing out to a 32-24 lead. Indiana would go on to outscore Connecticut 22-12 in the second to take a double-digit lead into halftime.

DeForge sparked Indiana to a 45-35 halftime advantage, scoring a game-high 15 points. Whalen paced Connecticut with 14 first half points. The Fever shot 51 percent from the floor in the first half, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

Connecticut cut Indiana’s lead to six on a Sales 3-point play at the 5:51 mark of the third quarter. Indiana then used an 8-2 run to pull in front by 12. A jumper from Tamika Whitmore made the score 62-50, Indiana.

The Sun cut its deficit down to nine early in the fourth quarter. However, Catchings converted a 3-point play moments later to extend Indiana’s lead back to double-digits.