Mystics-Fever Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Aug 15 2012 3:51PM

The Indiana Fever spent part of Wednesday celebrating Tamika Catchings' third Olympic gold medal.

The reigning MVP knows it's back to work Thursday night.

Catchings and the Fever return from the month-long Olympic hiatus as they face the Eastern Conference-worst Washington Mystics, who will try to win two straight for the first time in nearly two years.

Four days after helping the U.S. run its Olympic winning streak to 41 with an 86-50 victory over France, Catchings was back with Indiana on Wednesday. Point guard Briann January had fun posing with Catchings' gold medal and veteran forward Tammy Sutton-Brown "handled it the most," according to the Fever's official Twitter account, but Indiana (10-7) has business to take care of as the second half begins.

The Fever lost 77-74 to Los Angeles in their last game July 12 and trail East-leading Connecticut by four games.

Just hours after winning gold, Catchings already had her sights set on closing that gap.

"Fresh off the Gold Medal n on to the 2nd half of the WNBA season...," she wrote on her Twitter account Saturday.

While Indiana continues its season-high stretch of six straight home games, the Mystics (4-14) open the second half with road games on back-to-back nights against the Fever and defending champion Minnesota.

Washington has a large hill to climb if it's going to be part of the playoff conversation, but a 70-53 victory at New York in its last game July 13 could be a second-half spark. The Mystics had dropped 16 straight on the road.

"We just have to build on it and move forward," said coach Trudi Lacey, whose team hasn't won two straight since winning the final six games of the 2010 regular season.

Washington didn't have any players on the U.S. Olympic roster, but assistant Jennifer Gillom is hoping to share some of her lessons from London after serving on coach Gino Auriemma's staff.

"I come in with the attitude of 'Hey, I didn't get there by not working hard. I didn't get there by not putting in the work.' That's something I can share with them and get them to strive to be better, if not an Olympic gold medal, just be the best you can be," she told the Mystics' official website. "I'm hoping that's something they can look up to and follow."

Mystics leading scorer Crystal Langhorne had team highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds in Washington's last visit to Indiana, an 87-69 loss Sept 7. Langhorne's 22 points and 13 boards helped Washington beat the Fever 67-66 on June 15 to end a five-game skid in this series.

Catchings led Indiana with 15 points in that contest but missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left, and Katie Douglas missed at the buzzer.

Larkins scores 16, Fever beats Mystics 84-66

Posted Aug 16 2012 9:27PM

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Erlana Larkins scored a career-high 16 points to help the Indiana Fever defeat the Washington Mystics 84-66 on Thursday night.

Larkins also matched career highs with seven rebounds and three steals.

Tamika Catchings, fresh off winning her third gold medal for Team USA, had 14 points and 14 rebounds. The double-double was the 76th of her career, tied her with Lauren Jackson for third in WNBA history.

Katie Douglas added 11 points for the Fever (11-7), who returned from the Olympic break trailing Connecticut by four games in the Eastern Conference standings.

Monique Currie scored 12 points, Michelle Snow scored 11 and Jasmine Thomas added 10 for the Mystics (4-15), who remained in last place in the East.

Indiana outrebounded Washington 41-35 and had 20 assists on 29 field goals.

Indiana led 40-38 at halftime despite shooting just 34 percent from the field before the break. The Fever allowed Washington to shoot 47 percent in the first 20 minutes, but came out ahead by outscoring the Mystics 9-4 from the free-throw line. Catchings scored just two points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half.

Currie's basket in close tied the score at 45 before Catchings hit a mid-range jumper to spark an 8-0 run that gave Indiana control. Jeanette Pohlen's 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the third quarter gave the Fever a 62-47 lead at the end of the period.

In the third quarter, the Fever held the Mystics to 2-for-13 shooting and outrebounded them 16-6. Catchings, who had done little on the offensive end in the first half, had six points and seven rebounds, including four offensive boards, in the third quarter. The Fever had eight offensive rebounds and 10 second-chance points in the period.

Washington tried to chip away, but the Fever maintained control. With Indiana leading by 10 points, Catchings hit Sasha Goodlett with a perfect pass near the free throw line, and Goodlett drained the jumper. On the next possession, Pohlen zipped a perfect pass to Shavonte Zellous for a fast-break layup that gave Indiana a 72-58 lead with just over six minutes to play.

• Mystics: --
• Fever: --

• Mystics: --
• Fever: --

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
• Officials: #35 Billy Smith, #38 Lamont Simpson, #53 Jeff Smith
• Attendance: 6834
• Duration: 1:50