Indiana Fever could not hold on to its victory in Game 2 of the WNBA Playoff Semifinals and fell at the hands of the Las Vegas Aces. Taking advantage of their home court, A’ja Wilson and the team tied the series 1-1 after crushing Stephanie White‘s team 90-68.
The Fever head coach knew that her rivals were not going to give up a win after falling in Game 1. However, after the game, she did not sugarcoat her team’s situation.
White’s strong words for Indiana
The truth is that Wilson got all the looks. The Aces’ center was the game’s leading scorer, tallying 25 points and 9 rebounds in 33 minutes of play. NaLyssa Smith and Jackie Young also stood out with 18 and 13 points respectively.
However, for Indiana, the team’s top scorer added 18 points and that was Odyssey Sims. Lexie Hull with 15 points, Kelsey Mitchell with 13 and Aliyah Boston with 10 were the only other players to score in double digits.
For this reason, White was not in a very good mood after the loss and did not hide it from the press: “We didn’t throw any [punches],” Stephanie said. “The reality is they came in, they were physical, they dictated, and we were on our heels. We were passive. We were reactive to everything.”
In addition, the 48-year-old coach went on to detail the Aces’ prowess and stated that they will have to keep working to avoid this result in Game 3, which will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse: “They’ve been world champions for a reason. They have a mentality that they know exactly how to compete at this stage and at this level. We’ve got to be able to respond, and we’ve got to be able to rise to that challenge.”
Fortunately for the Fever, Game 3 and 4 will be played at home, so they will have the support of their fans. Even with the best-of-5 series tied, neither team is assured of their spot, so Indiana will have to improve on the areas where they failed and White detailed: “I thought we didn’t do a good job of attacking the rim. We were on our heels. We were settling for jumpers. We were holding the ball. We didn’t have clock awareness… But you’ve got to give them credit. They came out and they put us on our heels.“
Game 3 will take place this Friday, Sept. 26, and Game 4 will be played on Sunday, Sept. 28, both at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. If necessary, Indiana and the Aces would square off in a Game 5 on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.
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