Liberty-Fever Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jul 09 2012 9:36PM

Although the Indiana Fever are one of the better defensive teams in the WNBA, that hasn't been evident during the first two games of their homestand.

The Fever would appear to have a good chance to break that trend Tuesday when they host the depleted New York Liberty.

Despite inconsistency last month, Indiana is in second place in the Eastern Conference - 2 1/2 games behind Connecticut. After losing three straight and four of five in early June, it has responded by winning four of six.

However, it has been an uneven start to a six-game homestand for the Fever (9-6), who fell 88-72 to San Antonio last Thursday before escaping with an 88-86 overtime win over Chicago on Saturday.

Indiana, which is 5-2 at Conseco Fieldhouse, led by double digits late in the third quarter before being outscored 25-12 in the final period of regulation.

The Fever allowed Chicago to shoot 47.1 percent and go 8 of 18 from beyond the arc after the Silver Stars shot 52.2 percent overall and 7 of 12 from 3-point range the previous game.

"I think we're too good of a team," said Tamika Catchings, who had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists. "It's kind of like lack of focus on our part. That just can't happen."

The lack of effort is particularly surprising since the Fever give up the fourth-fewest points in the WNBA at 75.6 per game.

Indiana has won four straight against New York, including a 91-68 victory June 2. The Liberty defeated the Fever 87-72 the following day on their own court.

New York will have a different look in this meeting due to several injuries. The Liberty (6-10) failed to match a season high with their third straight win, falling 94-81 to visiting San Antonio on Sunday.

Essence Carson scored 25 points and Cappie Pondexter added 23, but New York committed 21 turnovers and allowed the Silver Stars to shoot 55.1 percent.

"We didn't have a good outing defensively," coach John Whisenant said. ``We've had a couple of good defensive outings against Seattle and more recently Chicago and we never got control of this one."

The poor defensive effort isn't too surprising given the amount of injuries the Liberty are dealing with.

Plenette Pierson, New York's second-leading rebounder and third-leading scorer, missed her sixth straight game (strained left knee), while top rebounder Kia Vaughn missed her second in a row (concussion).

The Liberty also are unsure about the status of forward DeMya Walker, who left Sunday's game with knee problems.

Catchings' late FTs lift Fever past Liberty

Posted Jul 10 2012 4:09PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Tamika Catchings scored 23 points, including the winning free throws with 8.4 seconds left, to give the Indiana Fever an 84-82 victory over the New York Liberty on Tuesday.

Katie Douglas scored 20 points and Shavonte Zellous added 12 as the Fever (10-6) squandered a 12-point lead and trailed by four in the final minutes before rallying.

``We did a good job holding our composure down the stretch,'' Catchings said. ``When you look at it there are things that you're happy about and things you aren't happy about. Just continuing our quest to be a good team. We made some great defensive stops.''

Indiana finished 53 percent from the field, including 9 for 18 on 3-pointers.

Cappie Pondexter scored a season-high 33 points and Essence Carson added 14 for the Liberty (6-11), who have lost two straight and six of nine.

``Felt like we could have won the game,'' Pondexter said. ``We had a chance. It seems like we battle this team back and forth, playoffs, regular season, for the past three years ever since I've been in New York.''

Trailing 73-70 midway through the fourth quarter, the Liberty scored seven consecutive points to take their biggest lead. Leilani Mitchell made 3 to tie the score, Pondexter hit a technical free throw called on Indiana's Briann January for arguing and then Pondexter made a 3 to put New York up 77-73 with 3 1/2 minutes to go.

Catchings came back with a 3-pointer nearly a minute later and hit another one with 1:53 remaining to give the Fever a 79-77 lead.

Pondexter hit a tying jumper, and Douglas and Pondexter traded 3-pointers 14 seconds apart to leave the score tied at 82 with 35.5 seconds to go.

Indiana passed inbounds with 17.5 seconds left in the game and 6 seconds to go on the shot clock. The ball went all the way to the backcourt, where January tracked it down, hustled upcourt and missed a desperation shot. Catchings rebounded and was fouled. She made both free throws to put Indiana ahead.

``It was kind of a playoff mentality, playoff atmosphere,'' Douglas said. ``We have kind of been able to learn from San Antonio to sustain a team's run and maintain our own run and come up with crucial baskets at the end. I'd much rather learn from a win than a loss.''

New York had one last chance, but January stole the ball from Kara Braxton, then Indiana came up with possession after a scramble and ran out the clock.

``It was a hard fought game,'' Liberty coach John Whisenant said. ``Indiana's hard to beat at home or anywhere. We got back in and got a lead. They made the play at the end. Our team battled back and didn't get the win.''Indiana led 52-43 at halftime after shooting 61 percent from the field.

New York cut the margin to 66-61 early in the fourth quarter, and Alex Montgomery's 3-pointer made it a 4-point game. A pair of free throws by Nicole Powell cut Indiana's lead to two, and the Liberty tied the game at 70 on a fadeaway by Pondexter.

The Liberty were playing their seventh straight game without second-leading scorer and rebounder Plenette Pierson (strained left knee) and the third in a row without leading rebounder Kia Vaughn (concussion).

• Liberty: --
• Fever: --

• Liberty: --
• Fever: January, Zellous

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #18 Kurt Walker, #11 Lauren Holtkamp, #49 Kevin Sparrock
• Attendance: 9216
• Duration: 1:53