The Indiana Fever’s Cinderella run in the WNBA playoffs came to an end at the hands of the Las Vegas Aces with a 107-98 overtime loss in Game 5 of the semifinals. Although their journey is over, the Fever showed a lot of heart and determination despite adversity hitting them one more time with leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell exiting the game in the third quarter.
The Fever were not expected to go very far in the playoffs due to multiple season-ending injuries to key players, including star shooter Caitlin Clark. However, they defied the odds and reached the semifinals for the first time since 2015.
“They have been an absolute joy to coach,” said coach Stephanie White postgame. “It’s an incredible group of women, an incredibly connected group. They’re a great example to everybody what it means to just put one foot in front of the other, to persevere, to welcome people into the fold, to not give in to circumstance, to lead with grace and dignity, to sacrifice for a greater good and a common good. I’m just I’m so thankful to coach these women, and I’m just thankful for this experience with them.”
With so many setbacks, the spark had to come from multiple players at different moments of the season. Odyssey Sims showed her veteran experience on Tuesday with a 27-point performance. Five other Indiana players scored in double figures, including Aliyah Boston, who completed a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds, and Shey Peddy, who scored seven of her 13 points off the bench in the third quarter.
Mitchell left the game midway through the third quarter after she went down with what coach Stephanie White described as lower body cramping. At the time of the incident, the Fever were down 55-59. White gave her team a speech in the huddle about how they needed to stay locked in and fight for her, just like they have done for other teammates who suffered injuries this season.
The message was received and the team very much looked like they were ready to pull off the upset.
With 52 seconds remaining, Sims tied the game 84-84 on the free throw line. She then locked down on defense and stopped Jackie Young from scoring in the next possession.
Things got even more difficult for the Fever when Aliyah Boston received her sixth foul with 26.4 seconds remaining in regulation, which took her out of the game and awarded Young two free throws. However, Sims remained locked in and came in clutch with a floating jump shot to even the score once more.
Regulation saw multiple ties and lead changes, but overtime quickly became one-sided with Chelsea Gray making big plays for Las Vegas. By the end of the night, the Aces had too much depth for Indiana to overcome. Gray finished the night with 17 points, while A’ja Wilson and Young became the first teammates to score over 30 points in playoffs history with 35 and 32 points, respectively.
Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon gave credit to the Fever for their persistence and congratulated them for what they had accomplished.
“They would not go away. They just would not go away,” Hammon said. “…. Just hats off to them. I thought they did an unbelievable job all the way around, their roster, their coaching staff. They just gas pedaled the whole time.”
While this wasn’t the desired outcome for the Fever, they still recognized they had a lot to be proud.
“The ones who’ve been here from start to finish, they’ve had a lot of changes throughout the season, and for us to continue to fight, we never back down every game,” Sims said. “…Coach kept telling us we have more to give. So I’m super proud just to be a part of this group. We came a long way. We did. We beat the odds. We weren’t even supposed to be here, and for us to be here, we finished out strong. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but we still got to hold our heads high.”
