Fever-Sky Preview

The Indiana Fever are hoping a lineup change pays dividends for the second game in a row.

Indiana, coming off a 92-87 victory at Dallas, plays at Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. The Fever (6-9) and the Sky (6-8) are battling for the last couple of spots in the eight-team playoff as the league nears the halfway point of the season.

Indiana coach Stephanie White inserted guard Erica Wheeler and forward Lynetta Kizer into the starting lineup against Dallas on Saturday. Wheeler scored 15 and Kizer added six as the Fever ended the Wings' four-game winning streak.

"We're looking to find a lineup that can start the game really well on both ends of the floor, looking to find players who can give us a punch off the bench, and looking for the consistency to sustain that for a 40-minute ballgame," White said.

"It was just something that we did because we wanted to see what a different lineup looked like because we needed to find a way to start the game and third quarter better."

Despite the win Saturday, Indiana has lost five of its past seven games.

Chicago has dropped four of five, including an 80-79 decision at the New York Liberty on Friday, when forward Elena Delle Donne scored a season-high 31 points. She leads the Sky with an average of 19.7 points per game.

Guard Cappie Pondexter is the team's other double-digit scorer, averaging 13.6.

The Fever also have two double-digit scorers -- forward Tamika Catchings (13.0) and guard Tiffany Mitchell (11.9).

The Sky won the season's first matchup against the Fever, 73-64 on June 10. Imani Boyette, a 6-foot-7 rookie center from Texas, posted her first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Indiana shoots just 27.3 percent from 3-point range -- ranking 11th in the 12-team league -- and that was a factor in the first meeting against Chicago. The Fever was only 4 of 24 from behind the arc in the loss. Guard Briann January led Indiana in that game with 17 points.