SCHEDULE

Gm 1: at N.Y., Tues., 8/30, 7:30 p.m. ET. ESPN2

Gm 2: at Ind., Thur., 9/1, 8 p.m. ET. NBA TV

Gm 3*: at Ind., Sat., 9/3, 7 p.m. ET. NBA TV

The Indiana Fever return to the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and will have home court in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history. Coach Brian Winters' team also finished with the best record in team history by an easy five games. Indiana also won a franchise-record (21) games this season and, as always, are led by All-Star and MVP candidate Tamika Catchings. Just as she did last season, the fourth-year forward leads Indiana in just about every statistical category. However, Catchings has gotten help from a variety of sources this season as well, from free agent guard Tully Bevilaqua and rookie Tan White to veteran center Natalie Williams. Meanwhile, the Liberty are led by an MVP candidate of their own, guard Becky Hammon. Hammon has provided scoring and leadership for New York down the stretch, though this veteran team is playoff-tested. Vickie Johnson and Crystal Robinson have been involved in some big games. The Liberty have won more playoff games than any other team in the league except for Houston and Los Angeles, and even made it to the Conference Finals once again last year in Coach Pat Coyle's first season.

2005 Regular Season: Indiana Fever 3 - New York Liberty 1 Some fast facts about the Fever-Liberty first-round matchup:
Catchings	Liberty center Ann Wauters was New York's leading scorer in the first three games between these two teams during the regular season, but a broken bone in her hand has sidelined her for several weeks and could force her to miss the entire series. Fever forward Tamika Catchings led the Fever in scoring (15.0 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), assists (4.3 apg) and steals (2.8 spg, best in the WNBA). Fever center Natalie Williams has announced that this will be her final season. After the Fever's postseason comes to an end, she will return to Utah and live with her family. The team's third-leading scorer and second best rebounder in 2005 is also the leading rebounder in U.S. women's professional basketball history. Talk about staying power, Liberty guard Vickie Johnson is a WNBA original and has played in more playoff games than anyone in history. Her teammates Becky Hammon are right behind her with 32 playoff games in their career. Johnson is fifth all-time in playoff points scored while Robinson is the all-time leader in playoff three-pointers made.	Hammon

Thursday, May 26: Fever 67, Liberty 59 | Box score

Friday, June 10: Fever 62, Liberty 59 | Box score
Sunday, June 31: Liberty 67, Fever 53 | Box score