Sun-Fever Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jun 07 2012 4:48PM

The Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun have gotten off to fast starts, but the Fever will have to see how they respond to their first loss when they host the Sun on Friday night.

At 4-1, Indiana and Connecticut are part of a three-way tie for the Eastern Conference lead, but the Fever will be looking to bounce back from a subpar effort in an 87-72 loss at New York on Sunday.

After beating the Liberty the previous night by 23 points, Indiana got off to a slow start in the rematch and trailed by double digits most of the way.

Tamika Catchings scored 19 points and Katie Douglas added 15, but the Fever finished with 22 turnovers and were outscored 24-14 in the first quarter.

"They came out really aggressive and we didn't handle the pressure well," Catchings said. "As we continue to build on becoming a better team, every game matters. We went through our runs, they went through their runs, but they were able to fight through it the whole game."

The 87 points were the most Indiana has allowed this season. The Fever entered the night giving up 71.5 points per game and had held their previous two opponents to fewer than 70, but they allowed the Liberty to go 9 of 19 from 3-point range.

Indiana is limiting opponents to 28.9 percent from beyond the arc.

The club may not have to worry about a repeat performance from long range Friday, as the Sun are shooting 26.9 percent (18 of 67) on 3s.

Connecticut bounced back from its first defeat with a 94-86 win over Washington on Sunday. Two nights earlier, the Sun fell 85-72 to Minnesota after shooting 32.5 percent.

Tina Charles finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and four assists against the Mystics after being held scoreless in the fourth quarter by the Lynx.

"I definitely wasn't happy with (last Friday's performance)," said Charles, second in the WNBA with 22.4 points per game. "I know my role on this team. I know my team looks to me offensively and defensively, so I'm just going out there and playing hard."

Connecticut and Indiana are second and third in the league in scoring at 83.8 and 83.2 points a contest. However, at 80.0 points allowed, the Sun are giving up nearly six more per game than the Fever.

This is the first of three meetings between the teams this month. The Fever won three of five last year, including both home games.

Kara Lawson helps Sun beat Fever

Posted Jun 08 2012 9:53PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Kara Lawson scored 18 points to help the Connecticut Sun beat Indiana 89-81 on Friday night, while WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings missed part of the third quarter after she was accidentally elbowed in the face by Fever teammate Tammy Sutton-Brown.

Catchings left the game with 6:58 left in the third quarter. She went to the locker room with a towel over her face and had a bandage on her lower lip when she returned at the 3:38 mark of the quarter.

The Sun (5-1) went on an 8-0 run with Catchings out.

``I don't think there was any doubt that that knocked us back,'' Fever coach Lin Dunn said. ``When you've got your franchise player basically carried out ... I think that shook us a little bit. Yeah, that was a factor.''

Catchings finished with a season-high 31 points for the Fever (4-2).

``Obviously, when she went down, everybody was kind of stunned,'' Fever player Katie Douglas said. ``It kind of rattled us a little bit mentally.''

Tina Charles added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Sun, and Asjha Jones had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

``First off, road wins are hard to come by,'' Lawson said. ``We sustained their run in the fourth quarter and kept our turnovers down. We kept our composure which allowed us to win.''

Catchings and Douglas combined for a 9-0 to give Indiana a 79-78 lead with 3:12 left in the game.

Connecticut closed the game with an 11-2 run.

``I thought we played hard in spurts,'' Dunn said. ``I don't know why that's happening.''

• Sun: --
• Fever: --

• Sun: Greene
• Fever: Dunn

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #42 Roy Gulbeyan, #46 Tim Greene, #53 Jeff Smith
• Attendance: 6041
• Duration: 1:51