The Indiana Fever‘s two-game win streak came to a halt on Tuesday night, as head coach Stephanie White‘s team struggled offensively and fell to the Atlanta Dream, 77-58.
The loss dropped the Fever to 4-5 on the 2025 WNBA season and marked a frustrating turn in their brief run of momentum without star rookie Caitlin Clark, who remained sidelined for the third straight game.
For much of the first half, it looked like Indiana might keep pace. The teams were knotted at 33 by halftime, showing flashes of composure and grit. But things unraveled quickly after the break.
Atlanta surged out of the locker room with a dominant third quarter, outscoring the Fever 23-9 and never looking back.
That explosive stretch put the game out of reach, and the Dream tightened the clamps defensively to close things out.
It wasn’t just the scoreboard that showed signs of frustration. With just over three minutes left in the game and Indiana trailing big, head coach White was hit with a technical foul after protesting a call involving Aari McDonald.
The officials didn’t hesitate to penalize White, and Atlanta capitalized, as Rhyne Howard knocked down the technical free throw to extend the Dream‘s lead to 19.
Fines loom as Fever frustrations boil over
Technical fouls in the WNBA come with financial consequences. While it’s unclear if coaches face the same tiered penalty structure as players, the league is known to issue fines in such cases.
For players, the first three technical fouls of the season result in a $200 fine each. That rate increases to $400 for the next three, and $800 for each one after the sixth.
Although this was White‘s first known technical foul of the year, she’s no stranger to league discipline.
Earlier in the season, following a May 24 loss to the New York Liberty, the Fever coach was fined for public comments made about officiating.
While far from the most serious infraction, White‘s passion is clearly showing as she tries to guide her young team through growing pains.
She wasn’t the only Fever member to lose composure. Guard Kelsey Mitchell also picked up a technical during Tuesday’s game, which likely comes with an automatic $200 fine, unless the WNBA reviews and overturns the decision.
Mitchell‘s frustration echoed a night in which Indiana had no answers for Atlanta‘s defense and couldn’t find any consistent rhythm on offense.
Indiana now looks to regroup before Saturday’s rematch against the New York Liberty, a team that handed them one of their earlier losses this season.
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