The Indiana Fever have finished the last three seasons with identical 21-13 records and playoff berths. The former is no longer a possibility, but the latter is still there.

Indiana will look to improve its poor road record when it begins a crucial four-game trip on Tuesday night against the Washington Mystics.

The Fever (13-15) are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, and with six games to go in the regular season, are trying to hold off Chicago and Washington (10-18) for the final playoff spot.

Indiana could wrap up a postseason berth before it returns home for its final two games, but must play better on the road to do so. The Fever are 4-9 away from Conseco Fieldhouse, and have lost seven of nine, including a 50-48 loss in their first trip to Washington on July 8.

They split two home games to begin their post-Olympic schedule. Indiana was blown out by Connecticut 84-58 on Thursday, but rebounded on Saturday with an 87-72 win over league-worst Atlanta.

"Our fans didn't deserve the kind of effort we put out Thursday,'' said forward Tamika Catchings, who had 23 points and seven rebounds. "Tonight, we played a good 40 minutes.''

Katie Douglas and Tammy Sutton-Brown each had 21 points, marking the first time in the franchise's nine-year history that Indiana had three players score 20 or more points in the same game.

The win also pulled the Fever within 2 1/2 games of third-place New York, and coach Lin Dunn believes the Liberty and second-place Detroit - 3 1/2 up on Indiana - are within reach as the schedule winds down.

"We're not only battling for fourth place, we're also battling to move up to third or second,'' Dunn said.

If the Mystics are to avoid missing the playoffs in back-to-back years, they'll need to improve quickly. After falling in its final game heading into the Olympic break, Washington lost 79-75 at home to Chicago on Friday, and followed that with a 92-78 defeat at Minnesota the next night despite 27 points from Alana Beard.

Beard leads the Mystics (10-18) with 16.5 points per game, though she's only averaged 10.6 in her last five games at the Verizon Center, with Washington losing four of those.

The schedule will give the Mystics one last shot to climb up the East standings. After facing the Fever and Shock at home, they'll begin a three-game road trip against Chicago followed by stops in Detroit and Connecticut.

Washington is 6-9 against Eastern opponents, the only playoff contender to have a losing record within the conference.