A tough loss their last time out wasn't exactly how the Indiana Fever wanted to conclude the first month of the season, but they're hoping the next month brings better results.

The Fever hope to begin June with a victory as they wrap up their three-game homestand against the struggling Houston Comets on Saturday.

Indiana (3-2) was unable to secure a third straight overall win after falling 74-65 to Detroit last Saturday - the second time in 10 days the team was defeated by its Eastern Conference rival. The Fever, who led by as many as 10 points in the first half, cut the lead to 69-65 in the final minute before Detroit scored the last five points on free throws.

"(Detroit) came out with an enormous amount of energy," said first-year Fever coach Lin Dunn of her team, which shot just 34.5 percent (20-for-58). "They came out with an enormous amount of focus. I thought our kids didn't match that, didn't match that physicalness."

Guard Tan White scored 14 points and Ebony Hoffman finished with 12 for Indiana, which was outrebounded 44-34 and yielded a franchise-record 21 offensive rebounds.

"We've got to dig deeper and not think about the fatigue factor," guard Tully Bevilaqua told the Fever's official Web site. "We didn't match them physically, and we let them be the aggressors on the boards."

Leading scorer Katie Douglas, who set a Fever record with at least 20 points in each of her first four games, didn't attempt a shot until the second quarter and was held to nine points, five rebounds and five assists. Despite that performance, she was named as the East's Player of the Week.

The Fever have counted on Douglas, who remains among the league leaders with 21.4 points per game, to make up for the absence of Tamika Catchings as the five-time All Star continues to recover from a right Achilles' injury she suffered during last year's postseason.

Douglas is hoping to get her offense back on track versus slumping Houston (1-6). Douglas, acquired from Connecticut in February, averaged 23.5 points, six rebounds and six assists in two games versus the Comets last season with the Sun.

Indiana, which looks to win for the third time in four tries at Conseco Fieldhouse, will also try for its fourth consecutive victory over the Comets. The Fever swept the two-game series last year, coming away with a 79-77 win at Houston on July 10 in the most recent meeting.

Houston, meanwhile, secured its first win of the season against San Antonio on Tuesday, but couldn't build off of that performance in its 81-73 loss at New York on Friday .

Forward Tina Thompson had 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Michelle Snow added 13 points for Houston, which held the lead twice in the second half after trailing by 17 in the first quarter. With 5,008 points, Thompson joined Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie as the only WNBA players to reach 5,000.

The Comets now look to avoid losing five straight road games for the first time since a seven-game slide May 19-June 24, 2007.

In two games versus the Fever last season, Snow totaled 21 points and Thompson had 19.

Despite being swept last season, Houston still leads the all-time series 10-4.