Indiana Fever close regular season with a dominating victory over Tulsa Shock – WNBA Recap
The Indiana Fever ended their regular season campaign with an emphatic statement when they handed a 91-58 hammering to the Tulsa Shock here at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Sunday night.
Indiana dominated the whole game, and after trailing 18-24 in the first period, outplayed Tulsa the rest of the game to leave them without any chance of victory.
Erin Phillips scored a game-high 21 points, while Tamika Catchings added 20 points and 10 rebounds as Indiana closed the season with a 22-12 record and matched the franchise record for most wins in a season.
Tulsa started the game well, and back to back threes by Ivory Latta had them leading 8-6 early in the first period. A layup by Glory Johnson had Tulsa ahead by 16-13, but Catchings replied with a jump shot to cut the deficit down
to 15-16. Another three pointer by Latta put Tulsa ahead 22-17, and Scholanda Dorrell closed the period with a layup to give Tulsa a 24-18 lead.
Latta scored another three pointer early in the second period for Tulsa, but that proved to be one of only two field goals by the Shock in the whole of the second period. Tulsa went 1 of 12 from the field after that three point
shot, and Indiana took advantage of their scoring drought.
Jeanette Pohlen scored a three pointer to give Indiana the lead for the first time in the game, and Catchings scored 6 straight free throws to end the period and give the Fever a 43-32 advantage.
Phillips opened the third period for Indiana with a three pointer and Catchings followed with a jump shot to hand Indiana a 48-32 lead. Later, 4 points Tammy Sutton-Brown made it 54-36 with 5:49 left in the period.
Davenport then scored 5 straight points and then nailed four straight free throws later in the period as Indiana jumped to a 68-42 lead.
Shock were outscored 28-11 in the third quarter alone, after they managed only eight points in the second period. Indiana continued their offensive onslaught in the final period and eventually cruised to a 91-58 victory.
Latta finished with 16 points and 4 assists for Tulsa, where as Dorrell had 14 points for the night. Indiana shot 52.6 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from the distance. Tulsa, in response, shot 32.1 percent from the field
and 34.8 percent from three point range. Indiana also outscored the Shock 24-14 from the foul line and had a 38-21 advantage in rebounds.
Fever will now host the Atlanta Dream in the first round of the playoffs on Friday night. They lost to the Dream in the Eastern Conference Finals last year and will be looking to extract some revenge this time around.
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