2008 Fever Player Bio Pages (pdf)
Indiana's "do-everything" forward returns for her eighth season in the WNBA…she could possibly miss early action due to rehabilitation of a right Achilles tear sustained in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Detroit, 9/3/07…Catchings has led the Fever in points per game, rebounds, assists and steals in each of her first six active pro seasons – no other WNBA player has led her team in as many categories in even one of those seasons...named the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006, she has finished among the top three in balloting for the WNBA MVP Award in four of her six active pro seasons, asserting herself as one of the world’s premier players...she is the franchise's first 2,000-point scorer and its only 1,000-point scorer...she has scored in every game (187) of her pro career...she is a five-time WNBA All-Star and six-time All-WNBA recipient...she has earned WNBA Player of the Week honors 11 times through six seasons, second in WNBA history to Lisa Leslie’s 14.
She has averaged 17.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game during her career...she is the only player in WNBA history to rank among Top 25 all-time leaders in points (3,203, 16th), rebounds (1,490, 14th), assists (707, 15th), steals (483, 5th), and blocks (189, 16th)…she also ranks among WNBA career leaders in free throws made (883, 7th) and 3-point field goals made (296, 13th)...she averages more steals per game (2.58) than any player in WNBA history with more than two seasons...Catchings owns three of the top four single-season steals figures in league history (94 in 2006; 94 in 2002; 90 in 2005)...a member of the WNBA’s 10th Anniversary All-Decade Team, awarded in 2006, she is the only player in WNBA history to ever rank in the league's top 10 in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocked shots in the same season...Catchings, though, has done it twice – in 2002 and 2006...she became just the fourth player in WNBA history to score 2,000 points, grab 1,000 rebounds, hand out 400 assists and snare 300 steals in her career – she reached the fourth of those milestones in her 125th career game – at Connecticut, 8/6/05...she reached those milestones in fewer games (125) than any other player in WNBA history, corralling all four milestones in just her fourth season...by comparison, it took Swoopes, the next fastest to reach all four milestones, seven seasons and 191 games...she has posted double-doubles in over one-fourth of her professional games (50-of-187).
Hopeful of being named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, Catchings started every game and was an Olympic gold medalist for the United States in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece...off the court, Catchings is one of the country’s most highly-regarded citizen-athletes – she was invited to President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address in 2004, and was named a finalist for the 2006 Wooden Citizenship Cup, presented annually to the nation’s top professional athlete who exhibits outstanding community service...in October 2007, she was honored alongside Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy, as a recipient of the Major Taylor Award which annually recognizes top African-American coaches, athletes and administrators for outstanding community service…she was the 2008 female recipient of the Rotary Club of Tulsa Henry P. Iba Citizen-Athlete Award…Catchings is the current president of the WNBA Players Association.
PRO - WNBA
2007: Catchings averaged 16.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 3.1 steals per game while starting in all 21 of her appearances…she was having perhaps the best season of her career, including career-high averages in rebounds and assists before she injured her left foot (partially torn plantar fascia) vs. Detroit, 7/20…she missed the final 13 games of the regular season…the Fever was 5-8 in her absence…she was named All-WNBA second team, and was a first-team selection to the WNBA All-Defensive team for the third straight season…she posted a season-high 26 points to go with 14 rebounds in a win at Detroit, 6/16…she had a season-high 15 rebounds one night earlier against Phoenix, 6/15…she had 22 points, 13 rebounds and six assists to go with two steals in 37 minutes vs. Chicago, 7/18…the game vs. the Sky represented her seventh double-double of the season and the 50th of her career…despite missing 13 games, she led the WNBA in steals for a third consecutive season.
2006: Catchings averaged 16.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg, to go with a league-leading 2.94 spg to earn her second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Award...she earned First Team All-WNBA honors, and was named at midseason to the WNBA’s 10th Anniversary All-Decade Team...she was the leading vote-getter for the WNBA All-Star Game, but was unable to play due to a heel injury...she scored a season-high 30 points, snared nine rebounds with three assists and three steals in an overtime win at New York, 6/13...her 30 points was the most in the regular season by any Fever player...in the same game, in what was the Fever's only game decided by three points or less in 2006, she broke a 78-78 tie on a jump shot with just one tenth of a second left in overtime...Catchings was named the WNBA Player of the Week for the ninth time in her career, as she was honored for the week ending 7/30...she scored 20+ points nine times, and scored in double figures in all but four games, including each of the last 17...she shot 73-145 FG (.503) during the season’s final 12 games...her 165 FT and 204 FTA both were second in the WNBA...she topped the league in steals with 94, which tied her own mark for the second-highest figure in WNBA history...she helped the Fever to a total of 355 steals, the highest figure by a team in WNBA history…seventh in the league with an average of 3.72 apg, she led the Fever in assists in 20 games...she missed two games early in the season (at Houston, 5/31, and at Minnesota, 6/2) due to a sprained right arch – they were the first games she had missed in her WNBA career.
2005: Catchings started all 34 games and led the Fever to the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging 14.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 4.2 apg and 2.6 spg...she was named the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the WNBA All-Defensive First Team...she led the league with 90 steals, while no other player in the WNBA had more than 67 thefts...she became the first Fever player to ever average 4.0 apg or better in a single season, finishing with a club record 143 assists in 2005...she ranked second on the team, behind Tully Bevilaqua, and second in the WNBA with a steals-to-turnover ratio of 0.99:1...she had a season-best eight steals against the Connecticut Sun, 7/13...it was the most steals by any player in the WNBA in 2005...she tied a Fever record with three consecutive double-doubles, 7/26-7/31, and fell one rebound short of her fourth in a row vs. Seattle, 8/4...she led the WNBA with 193 free throws attempted and ranked second in the league with 152 free throws made...she set team single-game records for free throws made and attempted, shooting 15-17 vs. Phoenix, 5/24...she scored 20+ points a team-high 10 times, including a season-best 28 points vs. Phoenix, 5/24...she was named the WNBA Player of the Week three times, being so honored for the weeks ending 6/19, 7/17 and 8/21...she led the Fever in points, rebounds and assists in the same game 10 times...she set a franchise record with 10 offensive rebounds vs. Charlotte, 8/20...that was the most offensive rebounds by any player in the WNBA in 2005 and was two short of the league record...against the Sting, she gathered a career-high tying 16 total rebounds, her second game of 16 rebounds in 2005.
2004: Highlighted by her gold medal appearance in the Olympics in August, Catchings appeared in all 34 games for the Fever and started in 33, missing a start only against San Antonio, 9/10, after sustaining a toe injury in practice...the missed start snapped a string of 96 consecutive starts dating to the opening game of 2002...she was named Second Team All-WNBA after leading the Fever in points (16.7), rebounds (7.3), assists (3.4), steals (2.0) and blocks (1.1)...she finished fifth in the WNBA in scoring, fourth in rebounds and fourth in steals per game...she recorded five double-doubles and scored in double figures in all but three games...she eclipsed 20 points or better in seven games...she saved her best game for the season finale at Connecticut, 9/19, by scoring 30 points with nine rebounds, four assists and four steals...she shot 10-12 at the free throw line, and tallied 21 points in the second half...she hit 24 consecutive FT over a four-game stretch, 6/29 to 7/6, that included a pair of game-winning FT with 36 seconds remaining against Phoenix, 7/3...she also matched a career-best nine offensive rebounds in the win over Phoenix, 7/3...she was perfect on 10 FT attempts at Washington, 7/1...she was twice named the WNBA’s Player of the Week, for the weeks ending 6/7 and 6/21.
2003: For the second straight season, Catchings was the runner-up in balloting for the league's MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Awards...she was named First Team All-WNBA, and was the leading scorer (17 points) in the WNBA All-Star Game, 7/14...she started and scored in all 34 games averaging 19.7 ppg, including an average of 22.0 ppg during July and 20.0 ppg during August...she twice matched her own franchise record by scoring 20+ points in four consecutive games...she had 10 games with double-figure points and rebounds...she matched a career scoring high with 32 points, and added a game-high 14 rebounds, in the Fever's first-ever win at Madison Square Garden, 8/22...she had 25 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in a double-overtime win at Connecticut, 6/26...she outdueled Chamique Holdsclaw and led the Fever to a pair of dramatic road wins at Washington, just five days apart in July...after scoring 29 points on 7/24, she added 30 points during a 92-91 overtime game, 7/29...Catchings' spinning baseline floater off the glass as time expired overshadowed Holdsclaw's apparent game-winning basket just seconds earlier, 7/29...she led the WNBA with 35.6 mpg...she finished second in the WNBA in steals and third in scoring...out of 34 games, she led the Fever in scoring 27 times, 19 times in rebounds.
2002: The WNBA Rookie of the Year, she was runner-up in voting for the league's MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Awards...she became the first Fever player ever to be named to the All-WNBA First Team...she ranked in the WNBA’s top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks...in addition to being the only player in the WNBA to lead her team in points, rebounds and assists, she led the Fever in steals, blocked shots, minutes played and 3-pt FG...she led the team in scoring 21 times, rebounding 23 times and in assists 16 times...she led the Fever in all three categories in the same game nine times...she led the WNBA in steals (2.94 spg)...she tied a WNBA record with nine steals against Minnesota, 7/26, matching Phoenix's Michelle Brogan's record set on 7/27/98...she was the first Fever player to score 30+ points, scoring a team-record and career-high 32 points vs. New York, 6/8...she matched that total against Orlando, 8/7...she scored 20+ points 17 times...including her team-high 20 points vs. Miami, 8/11, she scored 20+ points in four straight games from 8/6 to 8/11, setting a franchise record...in those four games, she averaged 25.3 ppg, which led her to be named the WNBA Player of the Week, 8/11...she grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds against Charlotte, 8/3...she ranked second in the league in 3-pt FG with 76...her 193 attempts from long range led the league and was the third-highest total for one season in league history...she set a WNBA record by hitting all six of her 3-pt FG at Orlando, 7/3...those six 3-pt FG set a franchise record and tied the most by any player in the WNBA in 2002...averaging 36.5 mpg, she ranked second in the WNBA in minutes played...she logged just 11 minutes after being elbowed in the nose by Miami's Ruth Riley, 7/12...that elbow resulted in a broken nose, but she did not miss any games and was one of two Fever players to start all 32 games...she averaged a team-high 3.7 apg, dealing a season-high seven assists four times...the first Fever player to start a WNBA All-Star Game, she scored a team-high 12 points with nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and four blocked shots...those blocked shots tied the All-Star Game record.
2001: She did not play due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee suffered during her senior season at Tennessee...she tore cartilage (medial meniscus) in her right knee during the Fever's practice in Houston, 7/5, and underwent surgery, 7/9.
PLAYOFFS
Catchings owns career playoff averages of 16.9 ppg and 9.8 rpg...in 15 games, she has posted 42 assists and 27 steals. 2007: Playing for the first time since a mid-season injury, Catchings posted four consecutive double-doubles to lead the Fever into the Eastern Conference Finals…in Game 1, she played 46 minutes while scoring 14 points with 20 rebounds and seven assists in a triple-overtime loss at Connecticut, 8/23…it was the second-best rebounding figure in WNBA Playoffs history…she followed with 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in Game 2, 8/25, and 30 points and 13 boards in a decisive Game 3 overtime victory, 8/27…bringing the Fever back from a WNBA Playoffs-record 22-point deficit, she made 16 of 17 free throw attempts in Game 3, for the second-most free throws made in playoff history…in Game 1 of the Eastern Finals, she posted 22 points and 11 boards in a win over Detroit, 8/31…near halftime of Game 3, she crumpled to the floor with a right Achilles tear. 2006: She averaged 14.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg in a two-game series against Detroit, despite spending most of the second half of Game 2, 8/19, in the training room with a concussion...she matched a playoff high with five assists against Detroit in Game 1, 8/17. 2005: Catchings started both games of a 2-0 series win over New York, 8/30, and 9/1, and both games of a 2-0 series loss to Connecticut, 9/8 and 9/10...she paced the Fever with 17.3 ppg and 9.3 rpg...she had a season playoff-high 21 points, and played 44 out of 45 minutes in an overtime loss at Connecticut, 9/10, which closed the series...her 3-pt FG with 18.6 seconds left in regulation, sent the game into overtime...she posted career playoff highs with five assists and four steals in the same game...in the first-round series against New York, she finished with game-highs of 19 points and 12 boards in each game. 2002: In three games against New York, she averaged 20.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg and 2.3 apg...in the series opener, 8/16, she shot 11-19 FG, 4-8 3-pt FG and 3-4 FT for 29 points...she collected 11 rebounds and handed out four assists with three steals in that game...she grabbed a postseason-high 14 rebounds in Game 2 at New York, 8/18...she scored 20 points in Game 2..in the third game of the series at New York, 8/20, she scored 12 points and added seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in 33 minutes.
PRO - NATIONAL WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE
Catchings played for parts of two seasons with the Chicago Blaze...she participated with the Blaze in between commitments for the WNBA, USA Basketball and graduate school during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
PRO - OVERSEAS
2006-07: Catchings played again for Woori Bank Hansae of the WKBL (Korea), and finished her season with a scoring average of 28.1 ppg. 2005-06: Catchings split her time between Russia and Korea...she competed for Spartak Moscow in November and December, alongside former Fever teammate Natalie Williams...in January, she resumed her position with Woori Bank Hansae of the Women's Korean Basketball League...she returned to Spartak Moscow in late March, during the club’s participation in the EuroCup playoffs where she played beside current Fever teammate Linda Fröhlich. 2003: A week after ending her WNBA regular season, Catchings returned to Korea to help Woori Bank Hansae to a summer title in the WKBL...she scored 23 points with 25 rebounds and eight assists in the final game as Woori Bank won the championship series, 3-1...2002-03: Following her rookie season in the WNBA and her participation with Team USA in the FIBA World Basketball Championship for Women, Catchings led the Woori Bank Hansae to a 14-6 record and the regular-season title in the WKBL...in Korea, she averaged 24.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg and 3.5 spg...she was named the All-Star Game MVP and led the league in points and steals.
INTERNATIONAL
2007-08: Catchings did not participate in U.S. National Team training due to rehabilitation of her right Achilles tendon, however is hopeful of retaining her spot on Team USA for the 2008 Olympics. 2006-07: Catchings led the U.S. in points (12.8), rebounds (9.0) and steals (3.8) during the Senior Women’s National Team’s 2007-08 training camp four-game tour in Italy...she was second on the team with 1.5 apg. 2006: Catchings was a starter for the United States while earning a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women conducted in Sao Paulo, Brazil...the team finished 8-1 in the tournament, falling to Russia in a semifinal game and downing Brazil for the bronze medal...Catchings led the club in rebounding in five games, and finished the tournament averaging 7.0 ppg and 6.9 rpg...her 18 steals led the U.S. 2004: Catchings won her first Olympic gold medal while starting every game for the United States in Athens, Greece...sixth on the team in scoring (6.9 ppg), Catchings was solid in multiple categories for the U.S. – first in minutes (24.8), steals (2.8) and free throw percentage (.833) and third in rebounds (5.4)...Catchings posted 11 points and a game-high five steals in a semifinal win over Russia, 8/27...she had one point, five boards, a block and two steals in the gold medal-win over Australia, 8/28...she finished with an Olympic-high 14 points against Spain, 8/20...Catchings helped lead the U.S. National Team to a 13-0 training record during spring 2004...averaging 9.5 ppg, she was second on the team with 72 rebounds (5.5 rpg)...she tied for the team lead in blocks (8) and steals (24)...Catchings averaged 15.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg during the team's four-game Domestic Tour in April...2002: Following the 2002 WNBA season, she helped lead the U.S. National Team to a gold medal in the FIBA World Championship for Women held in China...in the World Championship, she averaged 10.0 ppg and was second on the squad with 5.7 rpg...she was the team's top outside threat, nailing a team-high 13 3-pt FG in nine games, shooting 48 percent beyond the arc.
COLLEGE
2000-01: She led her team in scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.6 rpg) before suffering a season-ending torn right ACL (17th game of the season)...she led Tennessee to a 16-1 record and a No. 2 national ranking before the injury...she was a Kodak All-America recipient for the fourth consecutive season joining Naismith Player of the Century Chamique Holdsclaw as one of only four women ever to be named four times...she became just the second member of the Lady Vols to score 2,000+ points and grab 1,000 rebounds, joining Holdsclaw...she finished her college career ranked third in the school's history in points (2,113) and rebounds (1,004) and second in steals (311) and blocked shots (140)...she posted 33 career double-doubles...she graduated with honors a semester ahead of her class with a bachelor's degree in sport management, 12/00...a 2001 Academic All-SEC honoree, she earned a perfect 4.0 GPA during her final undergraduate semester. 1999-00: She was a consensus All-American and received numerous honors following her junior season, including the Naismith National Player of the Year Award while guiding the Lady Vols to the NCAA Championship game for the second time in her four college seasons...she received an ESPY Award as the 2000 College Player of the Year...she scored double figures 32 times and grabbed double-digit rebounds 11 times, while recording nine double-doubles...she led her team in scoring (15.7), rebounding (7.9) and steals (2.5)...she also led the team in minutes (30.9) and added 101 assists. 1998-99: She was named to the Kodak All-America Team for the second time...she also was named to The Associated Press All-America Team, as well as Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News and Women's Basketball Journal All-America Teams...she was a member of the SEC's All-Academic Team with a 3.11 GPA...she was named to the AP and Coaches' All-SEC Teams...starting all 34 games, she scored double-figure 29 times, pulled down 10+ rebounds eight times and recorded eight double-doubles...she was second on the team in scoring (16.6), rebounding (7.3) and assists (95)...she shot 51.2 percent from the floor and 77.5 percent from the line...she led the team in steals (88)...she scored a career-high 38 points in 27 minutes against Florida in the SEC Tournament, just two points shy of the SEC Tournament record. 1997-98: She joined Holdsclaw as the second member of the Lady Vols to be honored as a Kodak All-American as a freshman...she celebrated her first SEC title with spots on the All-Tournament, All-SEC and All-Freshman Teams...she was selected as Freshman of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, The Sporting News and the SEC coaches...she was named to the All-Final Four Team, as her team won the national championship...having started in 37 of 39 games, she scored double figures 36 times, grabbed double-digit rebounds nine times and recorded nine double-doubles...she scored a school freshman record 711 points, the seventh-best single-season performance for a Lady Vol...she shot 53.7 percent from the field and 76 percent at the free throw line...she tallied a Tennessee freshman record 35 points against DePaul.
