Scott Agness recaps Fever win over Sun — Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell set records

the Indiana Fever were back at gbridge Fieldhouse Wednesday night facing the Connecticut Sun a team they were very comfortable and familiar with especially going back to the early portion of the schedule remember we were in Connecticut for opening night and they in fact played three times in the first 13 games blowouts up in Connecticut but here in Indie it was a close one that The Fever faltered down the stretch and uh they were they were really pressed upon setting the tone early they knew it was going to be a physical matchup and they also wanted to play Fast of course pace is Big with this Indiana Fever team it was also breast health awareness night and uh survivors were honored on the court during halftime which is also cool um and more than that the stars were out for this one sitting court side was David Letterman it was Caitlyn Clark's college coach and Lisa bler uh you also had Olympic gymnast Simone biles track star Gab Thomas Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is not this week but the next week is opening weekend for the NFL and again there was a lot of familiarity between the two teams and although they they hadn't seen each other in over two months so uh Caitlyn Clark telling me before the game you know it that felt like a season ago they were a very different team she's a much different player a much more confident and comfortable player about what she can do and what her teammates are and how they play together uh in this one now Katie L Samson was available just 6 minutes took herself out of the last game up in Minesota due to illness she was a game time decision warmed up prior to this one but Lexi Hall ultimately getting the start and and played very well as I'll get into here throughout now these games they're still a big attraction I met up with a friend before the game uh little bit older and said tried to get a suite for his company well they were sold out so I had to find another option and more than that I'm still impressed pregame how Caitlyn Clark spends at least 5 minutes signing autographs after she's done with stretching and after she's done getting her individual work out on the court now once the game tipped off fever in their home white uniforms which I appreciate we saw Nelissa Smith exit the game just two minutes in with what looked like maybe an injury or shaking up no big deal she ultimately was able to return to the game the other pressing thing early on was Caitlyn Clark got in foul trouble two foul in that first quarter despite scoring seven points that was not an issue the remainder of the game and after falling behind 8 to2 the fever then were really really uh impressive the rest of the quarter ended up taking a 33- 26 lead on the Connecticut Sun at the end of the first quarter Kelsey Mitchell was off to a fantastic start at 11 points and uh here's what they had to say after the win I think for us it was just about not not taking it no more and I think it was a matter if you want to win or you don't so just the maturity and the toughness that my players showed tonight was just incredible I mean we're watching them just grow up right like from where we started to where we are now just the way they've just consistently improved that 1% so for me proud proud for the win Connecticut is an incredible team they're the best defensive team in the league and they just are going to make everything really hard and be very physical and you can't let that get to you thought the game got real chippy there for a little while and I just I think I C A time out just to make sure that we just kept our composure um didn't need to let that get to us just keep doing what we were doing now the Cent are coached by Stephanie white a individual we're all so familiar with right from Indiana Miss basketball Purdue National Champion former fever coach player assistant coach she's done it all she's now leading the Connecticut sun and she didn't like how they played in that first half yielding 33 points in the first quarter saying you know in that first period She really felt like their five players were playing individually defensively and then they were more connected after that and over the final three quarters and in fact in the fourth quarter they kept the fever to 15 points despite the losing effort now uh post game it was really interesting to see some of the interactions I highly recommend that you go go back here and watch the entire press conference I got a three shot so you can see all three players a lot of praise for Kelsey Mitchell a lot of praise for Lexi Hall some good interactions with Caitlyn and Lexi as well a prime example of how this team is coming together here was an example in fact of Caitlyn thinking was this the first time maybe since 2016 beating the sun no but it was 2021 so it has been a while I agree with kelse it's been since what 2016 since the fever had beat sorry not 2016 what happened in 2016 4 for 24 oh yeah 4 for 2 A lot happened in 2016 I was 14 but anyway I think it's I think it's a big win for us um I don't know I mean this is a team that we felt we hadn't really given a game to at all we felt I think especially here like we felt like we gave one away but you're really seeing the chemistry and and everything come together a large part due to lack of games more practice time and especially the Olympic break Kelsey Mitchell talking about how they're jelling together how they're playing with attitude and maybe some swag I think that what we bring to the table on who we are and who we're growing and showing to be is just who we are um I think that what what kayin brought obviously help but I think her and her play and utilizing us to like show as a group what we can do is super special and I think that the swag is going Contin continue to drip I guess because I mean we we only jelling more and more together and I think you know the sky's the limit for us now one notable moment in that first quarter as Caitlyn Clark made her first threep pointer to set the rookie record for threes made uh beating the record by Ryan Howard previously and there's still three weeks left in the season she doesn't really care too much about individual records especially something like this it's a rookie record she's more focused on team record getting to the postseason which is the ultimate goal and then moving past that for alltime records but again she's just 22 just in her rookie season and she did this despite not really shooting well through from Deep this season just 33% a game tonight where she was three of 12 from distance but all that said it was a notable step in her rookie season the three-point record is cool and um I think it just speaks to the way we play offense and the way we've been playing offense especially as of late like just fast Up Tempo um I feel like i' I'm definitely capable of shooting it a little bit better like I feel like I've gotten some tough roles over this over this course of this year but um even that last one tonight like I felt like it was in that one really upset me a little bit but um I still feel like I'm shooting it well I feel like I'm taking good shots and that's the most important thing for this team one thing we're also seeing is this team play with joy it's something that was lost on the group for the first three weeks of the season when they were just going from City to City game to game and uh you know Caitlyn was loose with it she was joking around um and making fun of herself even after the last win and she's competitive as anyone but acts like she's 10 she said that not me uh and so so it's great to see her response how how fun she's having with herself with her teammates uh and fans are really liking that as well right like I think you guys are really enjoying that and uh and it's good to see from her coming out of what she did in Minnesota with the ankle scare and she was still able to be out there tonight no concern with that but again Joy is the key word right now and I I have preached that from the beginning that you've got to have fun playing this game and you've got to have that Joy is so important and when we came out of the Olympic break and won those two games it was a different feel out there and that's what we talked about that we you know there's this Joy there's this excitement and it's it's it's created this new just this this different feeling around our team a lot of it I think really has to do with their relationships and how that's grown um and just the the the comfort that they have with each other yeah there was some dark days early and a lot of doubters but again the maturity and the toughness they kept showing up they kept showing up and they kept improving in areas that we needed to improve on and it showed up tonight big time just I don't know if I've ever been more proud of a group of people in my life a lot of appropriate talk postgame about Kelsey Mitchell as she set franchise record fifth straight game with at least 20 points in this one all the starters for the fever in fact reach double figures with Kelsey Mitchells Leading The Way with a game high 23 points and uh her teammates praised her and so did head coach Christy sides Mitchell is just the most unbelievable professional athlete that I might have ever been around she might not be happy all the time about certain things but Kelsey Mitchell is going to show up every single day and she's going to do the work every single day and do whatever our team needs um for us to be successful every single day couple other things that I want to highlight aiyah Boston her passing Eight assists in this one how about Timmy f benle as well second straight game she was able to play after injury she returned was impactful in her 17 minutes out on the floor despite not even scoring still found a way to be impactful and then of course Lexi Hall she was a player I talked about and discussed and asked about postgame because it was more than just her defense it was her her rebounding it was her scoring her playing with confidence and shooting with confidence as she finished with 17 points had eight rebounds and more to that was able to finish The Game knocking down two key free throws to seal the win she started hanging out with me more ring off on me Lexi stayed locked in and ready to go when her number was called and she's just she's just done everything that we needed to do um to to get these wins and to be successful and then on the defensive end you know she's drawing their best player now she's communicating with people she's locked into the scheme teams along with everyone else because it's not just that like everyone has to be locked in and on the same page and um she's just done a great job for us since the break now Marina RB scored 16 points for the Connecticut Sun Off the Bench she's been a killer for this Indiana Fever team and remember she used to play for the Chicago Sky demanded a trade got moved to the sun she hit a big shot a three-pointer with just under 3 minutes left that put Connecticut who had trailed most of the game ahead by two the fever responded knocked down a big shot after that and even more impressively to not allow another point the final 3 minutes of the game to the Connecticut stun five straight stops four missed shots a turnover and I all can't help but go back to the start of training camp where early on it was a focus on defense it was a focus on closing strong I think they were in about 14 games last year in the final couple of minutes before they lost and remember last year only 13 wins tonight they're 15 win of the Season closing strong was something Christy sides was very proud of POS situations that we've gone again and ran in practice the same situations in games early we would we would go in and practice and work on those same and that's that's paying off for us now and they have confidence in what we're doing the Indiana Fever are streaking 4- one since the Olympic break a 15- 16 overall record firmly in the playoff conversation something uh that was not relevant for this team uh since 2016 a strong game from Lexi Hall Kelsey Mitchell Caitlyn Clark just shy of a 20-point performance for her too to match five straight games with that Mark now the fever on the road for their next two games beginning Friday in Chicago but then get this they're home for six of their final seven games right here at gbridge Fieldhouse reporting from the Fieldhouse I'm Scott Agnes of field house files.com