WNBA: Fever's defense improves ahead of Sun matchup

Defensive improvement has played a key role in the Indiana Fever’s recent success.

Looking for their third straight win, the Fever aim to maintain their defensive intensity when they host the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday night in Indianapolis. The Sun enter the matchup as one of the WNBA’s lowest-scoring teams.

Indiana (16-10) leads the league in scoring, averaging 94.4 points per game, but remains near the bottom in defensive rankings, allowing 89.7 points per contest. However, during their current 6-2 run, the Fever have limited six opponents to 89 points or fewer.

In their most recent game on Saturday, Indiana dominated the third quarter against the visiting New York Liberty, outscoring them 30-12 to secure a 108-88 victory.

“We know we can score, but for us to accomplish what we want to accomplish, we’ve got to get better on the defensive end,” Fever coach Stephanie White said.

The Fever previously held the Sun (7-19) to just nine second-quarter points and 5-of-17 shooting from three-point range during an 85-75 road victory on June 13.

Caitlin Clark led Indiana with 25 points in that matchup, slightly above her season average of 20.7 points per game. The Fever star has been under a minutes restriction in the past four games while managing a lingering back issue. With only one game remaining before the All-Star break, Clark could potentially receive another night of rest.

Meanwhile, Kelsey Mitchell continues to provide a major scoring boost for Indiana. The guard, averaging 23.3 points per game, is looking to extend her streak of scoring at least 20 points to 11 consecutive games.

After scoring 30 points in Indiana’s 110-107 win over Seattle on Friday, Mitchell followed up with a 33-point performance against New York, shooting 10-of-14 from the field.

“She’s just a ballplayer,” White said. “She just wants to play.”

Mitchell scored 19 points against Connecticut last month, as the Sun attempt to end their four-game losing streak in the series against the Fever.

Although Connecticut sits near the bottom of the WNBA standings and averages just 79.7 points per game, the team has shown signs of improvement after ending a seven-game losing streak from June 2-19. The Sun have gone 5-4 since that stretch.

“Be mentally ready,” Sun coach Rachid Meziane said. “We have to be ready to respond by showing character.”

Connecticut’s bid for a third consecutive win ended with a 72-63 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday. The Sun shot 37.9% from the field, made only 4 of 14 attempts from beyond the arc, and committed 21 turnovers that resulted in 22 points for Phoenix.

Center Olivia Nelson-Ododa recorded 12 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. She has averaged 11.7 points over her last 10 games and posted 12 points and seven rebounds against Indiana in June.

—Field Level Media