The Indiana Fever were on the brink of a trip to last year's WNBA finals when an injury to star forward Tamika Catchings derailed their title hopes. They hope the return of the five-time All-Star will have an equally significant impact.

More than nine months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles' tendon, Catchings is expected to make her season debut as the Fever host the San Antonio Silver Stars on Sunday.

Catchings has led Indiana in scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks in each of her six seasons since the club selected her third overall in the 2001 draft. The two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year was having another strong season in 2007, helping lead Indiana within one win of the first finals appearance in franchise history.

However, the Fever's championship hopes collapsed with Catchings when the 6-foot-1 forward tore her right Achilles' tendon in the decisive Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit. Indiana went on to lose that game, getting bounced from the playoffs by the Shock for the second consecutive season.

Fever coach Lin Dunn hopes the return of her star player can help Indiana (5-3) reclaim its status as one of the elite teams in the league.

"We're obviously very excited about Tamika's progress," Dunn told the Fever's official Web site. "We're thrilled that she'll be back with us on Sunday. We understand that her minutes may be limited, but it will be wonderful to have her on the floor in uniform again. We have certainly missed her 100 percent effort, her leadership and her overall game."

While the Fever have gotten accustomed to Catchings carrying the load in her tenure with the team, they also know they shouldn't expect her typical production immediately. That might not be a problem for Indiana thanks to Katie Douglas and Tan White, who have stepped up in Catchings' absence, averaging career highs this season of 18.9 and 15.3 points, respectively.

"We're excited that she's coming back, but we have to stick with how we've been playing," White said after scoring a season-high 21 points to lead Indiana to a 76-67 win over Atlanta on Friday night. "She'll be with us, but I'm not sure if she can come out and give us 20 or 30 minutes from the start. We can't get out of what we're doing. Hopefully after a few games or a couple of weeks she'll be ready."

The Silver Stars (5-4) hope to spoil Catchings' season debut as they try to get their first road win of the year. They're undefeated in five home games, but have dropped their first four road games by an average of 11.3 points.

San Antonio is aiming for its first three-game win streak of the year. Becky Hammon scored 17 points, eclipsing 3,000 in her 10-year career, as the Silver Stars rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Seattle 74-69 on Friday night.

That performance followed San Antonio's 64-53 win over Indiana on Wednesday night. Hammon was held to two points and 1-for-7 shooting, but the Silver Stars, who entered the game as the league's worst shooting team at 38.7 percent, shot 41.7 percent against one of the WNBA's best defenses.

"We just played as a team," Silver Stars forward Sophia Young said. "We got out on transition. We ran the ball. We shared the ball and were able to score."