GAME NOTES

Kayla McBride crossed the 2,000 career point plateau Sunday, and now has 2012 points in her five-year. She is the 111th player in WNBA history to score 2000 points. BlackJack is 26 years, 27 days old, making her the 17th youngest player in league history. McBride took 131 game to score 2000, tied with Nikki McCray and Brittney Griner for 23rd fastest ever. She is the 1st player from the class of 2014 to score 2000. McBride would be the fastest to 3000 if she got there in her next 17 games.

Carolyn Swords posted the second double-double of her career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

A’ja Wilson (24 points) reached double figures in scoring for the 25th straight time to start her career, which is a franchise record. She also scored 20 or more points for the 14th time this season.

Kayla McBride (16 points) reached double figures in scoring for the 22nd time this season, and the 21st straight.

Kelsey Plum (12 points) reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time this season.

Tamera Young grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds, including seven in the first half.

Mandalay Bay Events Center is the 32nd different arena in which the Indiana Fever have played.

Natalie Achonwa led the Fever with 21 points which is the third time she has scored 20 or more in a game this season, She also grabbed seven rebounds and moved into ninth place in Indiana history with 440 career rebounds.

Candace Dupree scored 13 points to reach double figures in scoring for the fourth straight game.

Victoria Vivians shot 3-of-4 from 3-point range to contribute nine points, all in the first half, for the Fever. Fellow rookie Kelsey Mitchell got all her scoring in the second half, and matched her nine points. The Mitchell-Vivians rookie duo combined on four 3-pointers to become the second rookie tandem in league history, and the first since 1999, to amass more than 100 3-point field goals made.

Head Coach Bill Laimbeer

It was great to come back with a win like that, obviously our two horses went off again, however there were some very fine performances tonight.  Moriah Jefferson’s best game, our lead guards had 15 assists and no turnovers, that’s pretty good.  I think the player who won the game for us was JiSu Park, I thought her defense down the stretch was outstanding and A’ja Wilson gets the credit for the big late three-point play.  She never would have got the ball if JiSu didn’t attack and get the rebound.  I thought that was JiSu’s best game and hopefully we can get some more production from her like that.  We’re also going to be searching for more production from our bench

On defense in the 4^th quarter

I think Jefferson gave us so much energy in the fourth quarter, she hounded the ball and she disrupted the rhythm out there and it was infectious for our team.  We also got the big rebounds in the fourth quarter which helped.

On team’s character

The character of our team is still growing.  I’m not quite sure where it’s going to end up.  I know that Kayla McBride is willing our team to be competitive mentally out there and A’ja is A’ja and I like Plum’s competitiveness also.  Once Jefferson gets herself acclimated I wanna see how that three-guard rotation is going to work.  We’re a work in process and I think this win today goes a long way to helping us build our character because we did not hang our heads.

On A’ja getting tired  

“I had to give A’ja a break, you could see she was wearing down, she needed a couple of minutes to recoup, but we made a couple of good plays.  We pushed the ball with great pace in that fourth quarter and I think that was one of the things that was lacking in the first half.  We had a good lead but we gave it back because we were walking the ball up the floor, we’re at our best when we push the pace.”

Kayla McBride

On being an all star

“It’s dope! I’m excited to be able to represent Vegas; the fan base and MGM have been so amazing, so to be able to go and represent them the first year with A’ja is really special to me.”

On performance in fourth quarter

“I try to just be a leader throughout the game. I feel like I have enough experience now to know how to win games, when to speed it up, bring it back, and get everyone else involved. Coach asked me to be the leader of this team and be mentally tough throughout the game. I saw an advantage, I wanted to get the game out reach down the stretch. I was just trying to be myself, be confident, and continue to stay aggressive.

On having fun this season

“So much fun and I think it’s mostly because of the fans and the fact that they’ve been so amazing. It’s 3 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon and we have a packed house so just knowing they’re going to continue to support us makes you want to go out there and play as hard as you possibly can to get wins. The fans have been unbelievable and have helped us win a lot of big games recently. I’m truly happy to be here in Vegas and play for these fans.”

On team cohesiveness

“I’m very impressed (with team chemistry) and it’s top to bottom. Carolyn may not play a lot but when she’s in, she makes such an impact, and other players like that — Dearica Hamby, Nia Coffey, Tamera Young. Everybody is contributing. It’s not just A’ja and I scoring 60 points and that’s it and we lose by 20. It’s I score 20, A’ja scores 20, Tamera has 12, Nia has 8. We’re figuring out where people like to score and how to score. We’re just learning how to be a team, which takes time. I mean we started 1-7 and now we’re 12-13, so it just takes time. Once it clicks though, we’ve taken our confidence and said ok we can play in this league.”

On community relations efforts and team bonding playing a role in the team’s success

“I think it’s a three headed monster right now (getting familiar with the team): toughness, trust, and time. The toughness is always there and the trust comes with time, getting to know people as people not just basketball players; that’s what really gelled A’ja and I together, just asking her about where she’s from and her family/things like that. When you have that chemistry off the court, it translates onto the court. I came a little bit late after training camp and after the first two games so it took me a little bit longer, but now I feel like we’re all on the same page.”

A’ja Wilson

On being an all star

“It feels good, it’s a blessing. I wasn’t really something coming in saying that’s one of the things I (want), so thanks to everyone who voted and I’m really excited.”

On win, multiple players in double figures

“It was (a good team win), I started off kind of sluggish of course and coach was saying this is a getaway game and people usually fall asleep around this time because the all star break is coming up soon, but for us to just come out and get a win, it’s something special. Our bench production was great today, everyone came and there was no drop off and that’s what you need around this time.

On Carolyn Swords

“Carolyn is that type of player that every team needs. When she gets in, she takes care of business and she’s a leader, like the team mom. We trust her, every time she talks we’re all glued in; every team needs a person like her.”

On how she feels the team is currently

“We’ve gained some momentum. We’re 6-7 on the stretch right now so the break is something we need. It will be tough being away from each other. But when we come back we really have to be locked in because the season’s going to fly by and we’re trying to get into the playoffs now.”

On what’s changed/attributed to success

“We’re trusting each other now and really getting to know each other on the court. We all know what’s at stake and want to make the playoffs and we all want to make history for this franchise. Nobody likes to lose and everyone’s tough on themselves, but once we got these wins underneath our belt, we could grown and learn from there — that was a turning point for us.”

On community relations/team bonding

“Us being women, we’re really nurturing; our emotions control us so for us to get along off the court shows it on the court and that’s what we need. Community service, the NBA summer league and doing things off the court really do help us. We’re thankful to be in a place like Las Vegas where it never sleeps and there’s always something to do together.”

Carolyn Swords:

On what sparked you coming off the bench:

“This is a really important game right after a break and it’s always key. We’re making a playoff push so any win that we can get especially at home is going to be really important.”

On being known as ‘The Team Mom’ (according to A’ja Wilson) and being crucial to the success of this team both on and off the court:

“I’m very familiar with Bill Laimbeer, with playing in the league. It’s definitely an adjustment especially for rookies. I think just being able to be a listening ear or help explain certain things that the pace of play picks up. That’s very nice and I’m honored the team thinks that way of me.”

On this team coming together so quickly from where they started earlier in the season:

“The challenge of the season being compressed with the World Championship is that we really have limited practice time. So you think with the young team you want as much practice time as you can get. I’ve been impressed with how our team has been able to watch film, take in what the coaches are saying and apply game plans sometimes with only just a meeting beforehand and then hit the court. Definitely some bumps in the road with it being expected but I feel like we’re really jelling and trying to problem-solve together. It’s been really fun and I’m really proud of how we’ve been going.”

On staying focused the rest of the way knowing that you’re so close to playoff spot:

“It’s always tough to not keep peaking at what other people are doing but we know that we can only control what we can within our games and on the court. It’s really just taking advantage of this time that we’re going to have over the next couple of days, both practice and rest and then make sure we come back really focused for a good solid push towards the end of the season.”

On taking it as a personal challenge to get out there and do the dirty work:

“I think that’s always been kind of my mentality and just focusing on one thing at a time, one possession at a time. Whether it’s a rebound coming my way or knowing that the player that I’m guarding is a good rebounder gives me something to focus on and just try to stay present with that.”

On this week being a dangerous week with your momentum stopping due to the All-Star Break:

“The All-Star Break is usually a pretty dangerous turning point. Sometimes people can overlook the game right before or right after. Some teams will come back right after the All-Star Break and really take off. We want to make sure that we keep our momentum, stay focused, take care of ourselves while we have a couple of days and then make sure that we really hit the ground running when we come back.”