Said Starbird, "After three back-to-back seasons of overseas and WNBA basketball, I have decided to step away from the WNBA to spend time with my family and rest my body. I plan to continue playing basketball in Europe in the fall and haven't ruled out a return to the WNBA (and the Fever) for the 2006 season. I wish Indiana great luck this season and will be following the games from my TV set and DSL line!"

Starbird, who has competed in Madrid, Spain the past two winters, was acquired by Indiana as a free agent prior to the 2004 season. She played in 12 games for the Fever in what was her fifth season in the WNBA. Starbird’s career has spanned 112 games dating to her first season in the league, 1999, with the Sacramento Monarchs. A 1997 graduate of Stanford, she played in Utah and Seattle from 2000-02.

Added Fever Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Kelly Krauskopf, "I know Kate has a lot of fans in the WNBA and in Indiana. She is a true professional and tremendous person. We'll miss her this summer.”

The Fever, which owns the No. 2 pick in the 2005 WNBA Draft which takes place Saturday, April 16, opens training camp April 24. The Fever’s preseason schedule opens May 3 against the Detroit Shock, in a game played at the Joyce Convocation Center at the University of Notre Dame. Indiana hosts its lone preseason home game May 10 against the Phoenix Mercury (7:00 p.m.)

Individual game tickets for the Indiana Fever’s 2005 regular season may be purchased at the Conseco Fieldhouse Box Office, the Internet (www.ticketmaster.com) or by calling (877) WNBA-TIX.