July 23, 2023
BROOKLYN – The Indiana Fever dropped to 6-16 on the season after falling to the New York Liberty on Sunday afternoon, 101-83. After the Liberty scored 44 points in the first frame, a new WNBA record for most points in a quarter, the Fever outscored New York 66-57 the rest of the way.
Victoria Vivians led the Fever in the scoring column for the first time this season as she contributed 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Vivians recorded a season-high four steals as well as five rebounds, three assists and one block.
Erica Wheeler followed Vivians in the scoring column with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the court, while Kelsey Mitchell added 13 points and four assists. Rookie guard Grace Berger pitched in nine points off the bench, dished out a career-high five assists and pulled down four rebounds.
Vivians, Mitchell, Wheeler, Berger and Aliyah Boston combined to shoot a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe. In addition, Indiana tied a season best 10 steals and recorded 38 of its 83 points in the paint.
New York set the tone for the matchup from the tip shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the floor through the first six minutes of play and would eventually close the quarter shooting 83.3 percent (15-of-18). Lexie Hull led Indiana with five points in the quarter as the Fever finished the quarter shooting 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from the court. A 33-8 scoring run gave the Liberty the 44-17 lead at the end of the first frame.
The Fever fought back in the second quarter and outscored the Liberty, 29-24, to record its second highest scoring quarter of the season. Vivians guided Indiana as she netted 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with two assists in the quarter. Indiana finished the quarter on a 20-8 run, but the Liberty maintained their advantage as the first half ended, 68-46.
Mitchell and Wheeler led the charge to open the second half as they contributed eight and six points respectively in the third frame. The Liberty slowed its offensive pace in the third quarter as Indiana’s defense held them to 8-of-18 shooting (44.4 percent) from the court. Despite outscoring New York in the final frame, 19-14, the Fever were unable to overcome the remaining deficit as time expired.
New York led by as many as 34 points on one occasion, and the closest Indiana came after that point of the game was 16 points in the fourth quarter. Liberty forward Betnijah Laney led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the court, with 12 of those points being recorded in the first quarter. Jonquel Jones, who had ten points in the first quarter, contributed a double-double in the win as she ended the matchup with 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
Sabrina Ionescu and Marine Johannès each contributed 12 points, with all of Jonannès’s points being earned from four completed three-point field goals on seven attempts. In addition, Courtney Vandersloot pitched in nine points and a game-high 10 assists.
New York entered the matchup averaging a league leading 11 three-point field goals per contest and recorded 12 three-pointers on 19 attempts within the first half alone. The Liberty came one three-pointer shy of tying the WNBA record for most three-point field goals in a game as they finished the matchup shooting 17-of-34 from the three-point line.
UP NEXT
The Fever head west to take on the Los Angeles Sparks for a pair of games beginning Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET. Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on the official Indiana Fever Facebook page and on NBA TV.
Originally posted on fever.wnba.com