Stephanie White Details What Went Wrong in Final Play of Fever Loss to Sun
The Connecticut Sun secured the first win of their 2025 WNBA regular season against the Indiana Fever on May 30, stealing a victory at Gainbridge Fieldhouse arena by a score of 85-83.
This was an extremely frustrating game for Fever fans. It marked the second game that star guard Caitlin Clark was missing because of a left quad strain, and the Fever looked hapless on the court without her. As a result, they fell to 2-4 in the regular season.
Indiana does deserve some credit for coming back in the fourth quarter. However, it wasn't enough to secure the win.
The Fever had the ball at the end of the game with about 5 seconds left. They inbounded from the sideline, got the ball to Kelsey Mitchell, who bobbled the ball in the corner, recovered, took a step back, and then took an off-balance three-point shot. It was an airball, thus solidifying the Sun's win.
After a furious rally to come back from down 16, the Fever fall, 85-83. They’re 2-4 with three straight losses, and the Sun get their first win.
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) May 31, 2025
The final play was an off-balance 3-pointer from Kelsey Mitchell: pic.twitter.com/Tw8uBAbEjR
Fever head coach Stephanie White spoke with the media after the game and addressed what happened during the final play.
“As far as the last play, it wasn't clean. We didn't get it in cleanly," White said, per an X post from Chloe Peterson. "The way it was developing, it looked like we were gonna have a good look. But it just wasn't clean.
When asked whether White was looking for Mitchell's three-pointer on that final play, White added, "No, no. We weren’t looking for a three necessarily, we were just looking to get a quick score. I think the 3 happened because [the inbound] didn’t come in cleanly, and there was a little fumble of the ball."
Steph White on the final possession: “We weren’t looking for a 3 necessarily, we were just looking for a quick score. I think the 3 happened because the inbound didn’t come in cleanly.”
— Chloe Peterson (@chloepeterson67) May 31, 2025
More on the Fever’s hesitancy and injuries: pic.twitter.com/Gj54PJnJyW
The Fever will look to get back to their winning ways against the Washington Mystics on June 3.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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