Shock-Fever Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Jun 13 2011 12:48PM

Just three games into the season, the Indiana Fever are already thinking about their postseason positioning. The Tulsa Shock have more immediate concerns.

The Fever go for a second straight victory Tuesday night while the winless Shock try to end a 12-game road losing streak.

Coming off an 81-80 loss Friday, Indiana (2-1) avoided getting swept in a home-and-home set by New York with Saturday's 86-80 road victory. The Fever, who overcame an 18-point deficit Friday before falling on a Cappie Pondexter jumper with 8.1 seconds left, completed a comeback from 13 down late in the third quarter Saturday.

"We knew we couldn't go down 0-2 against them (in the season series)," forward Tamika Catchings said after scoring a team-high 19 points. "Especially when it comes down to the crunch time and figuring out who's going to get the No. 1 seed and who's going to get the home-court advantage."

Hosting Tulsa (0-4) could give the Fever a major advantage in this matchup. Including two victories over Detroit in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals, coach Lin Dunn's team has won five straight at Conseco Fieldhouse versus the Shock franchise.

Led by 24 points from Catchings, the Fever shot 54.3 percent and won 100-72 on July 8 in the teams' last meeting in Indianapolis.

The Shock make their only visit there this season following Sunday's 90-79 loss at Connecticut.

Despite extending the club's worst start since an 0-13 skid to open 2002, Tulsa shot better than 40 percent from the floor for the first time this season by making half of its 58 field-goal attempts.

Ivory Latta led the way, matching a career high with 26 points and hitting 11 of 14 from the field.

"Tulsa played well for long stretches today," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "They're going to be a good team if they just kind of hang in there. They've got talent and they've got people just trying to get used to each other."

If the Shock are going to win their first road game since July 16 against San Antonio, rookie center Liz Cambage may need to play a major role.

The 19-year-old Australian is averaging 15.5 points with a team-high 7.8 rebounds, but she missed the final 6:51 on Sunday after getting hit on the nose by teammate Tiffany Jackson, leaving her status unclear.

"I feel fine," Cambage said. "I wanted to go back on so bad, but they didn't want to risk anything."

Catchings scored a team-high 19.5 points per game as Indiana and Tulsa split two matchups in 2010.

Douglas leads Fever over Shock 82-74

Posted Jun 14 2011 9:45PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Katie Douglas had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead the Indiana Fever to an 82-74 victory over the Tulsa Shock on Tuesday night.

Jessica Davenport scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter for Indiana. Briann January had 12 points and Erin Phillips finished with 10.

Ivory Latta scored 19 points and Jennifer Lacy had 14 for the Shock, who dropped their fifth straight game to start the season. Kayla Pedersen scored 13 and Andrea Riley had 10.

Douglas tied a career high with six 3-pointers, also matching the franchise record.

The Shock played without Elizabeth Cambage, who suffered a concussion during the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to Connecticut. The 6-foot-8 rookie is averaging 15.5 points and 7.8 rebounds.

• Shock: --
• Fever: --

• Shock: --
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 12
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #55 Eric Brewton, #44 Felicia Grinter, #45 Tom Mauer
• Attendance: 6024
• Duration: 1:52