Stephanie White Singled Out What Fever ‘Can’t Afford’
The Indiana Fever got out to a quick 13-point lead in the first quarter against the Washington Mystics, but lost that lead just as quickly in a 20-9 second quarter that was all about the Mystics. The Fever ended up forcing overtime after a string of big shots from Caitlin Clark, but still ended up with a 102-104 loss to the youngest team in the league.
The loss highlighted the Fever’s biggest problem to start the season: defense. Stephanie White didn’t hold back when she criticized her team’s lack of effort on that end of the floor after the game.
“We put a lot of pressure on our offense to be perfect when we don’t consistently defend,” White said. “And this is on us as coaches, this is our responsibility. We’ve got to be disciplined the entire game. We’ve got to be disciplined every possession.”
She also added, “At times, we’re resting on defense, and we can’t afford to do that.”
This loss showed how quickly the Fever can lose control of a game if they’re not locked in defensively. If they want to turn things around, they can’t take possessions off on that end of the floor in the future.
The Fever struggled to keep the Mystics away from the rim
Washington only took 16 3-pointers compared to the Fever’s 42 and made six. The Fever made 17. That’s a 33-point advantage for the Fever from behind the arc. But the Mystics shot 56% from the field overall and went 22-28 from the free-throw line.
The Mystics demolished the Fever around the rim, finishing with a 30-point advantage in the paint. Kiki Iriafen and Shakira Austin only combined for one 3-point attempt, but still scored 25 and 19 points, respectively. The Fever were rarely able to contain them around the rim or avoid fouling the two bigs, especially with Aliyah Boston sidelined with a lower leg injury after 21 minutes on the court.
Sonia Citron also gave the Fever plenty of trouble. Despite missing three of her four 3-point attempts, she scored 30 points, nine of which came from the free-throw line.
These issues didn’t just come out of nowhere. They also showed up in the Fever’s first two games. Indiana currently sports the fifth-worst defensive rating in the league—a far cry from the top-three finish Stephanie White would like to see—and allows opponents to score the most points in the paint across the league.
Stephanie White and the Fever obviously have some work to do
We’re just three games into the season, so it’s still a tad early to press the panic button for the Fever’s defense. But, at the same time, it’s definitely a big red flag looming over the Fever’s title aspirations.
They shouldn’t have to rely on clutch threes from Caitlin Clark to keep them in games against a team made up primarily of rookies and second-year players because that might not be enough against teams like the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, or Atlanta Dream. It’s difficult to compete with the top teams in the league without a functioning defense, so White and her team still have a lot of work to do—work that will become indefinitely more difficult if Aliyah Boston misses some time.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.