Tamika Catchings powers Indiana Fever past Connecticut Sun 75-70 – WNBA Recap
Tamika Catchings scored a team-high 13 points, grabbed a game best 12 rebounds and dished out five assists, recording her 70th career double-double, to lift the Indiana Fever to an impressive 75-70 victory over Connecticut Sun
on Saturday night at Conseco Fieldhouse. With this victory, Indiana went ahead of Connecticut by one victory and moved into first-place in the Eastern Conference.
Tammy Sutton-Brown came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 12 points while guard Briann January ended with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists in Fever’s second consecutive victory.
Renee Montgomery led Indiana with a game-high 19 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Asjha Jones added 18 points, shooting 9 for 18 from the field, and pulled down five rebounds for Sun, who have lost their second
game in a row.
Tina Charles was the main target of Indiana as she had averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds in the last three games of the season. Fever handled Charles well and limited her to just 12 points but the 22-year-old still found her way
to grab 11 rebounds. Kara Lawson posted 10 points in the loss.
First Quarter
Katie Douglas banged one from downtown in the very first minute of the game to give Indiana an early lead. They continued to their charge and Tangela Smith’s 3-pointer at the 06:43 mark stretched Fever’s lead to 10-6. Connecticut
however turned it on at that point and scored the next nine points of the quarter to go ahead by 15-10.
Shavonte Zellous, who scored a season-high 21 points in the previous game, hit a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to knot the game at 15-15 with 03:42 to go in the first period. Sun then sprinted to a 9-0 run capped by Tan
White’s four-point spurt to take a 24-15 advantage with 01:41 remaining. Indiana scored last three points of the quarter to cut the deficit to six, 24-18, heading into the second.
Second Quarter
Connecticut held a 30-23 advantage early in the second quarter, but Indiana scorched them with a 16-2 run in the last five and half minutes to carry a 39-32 lead at halftime.
Third Quarter
After being mauled by Fever late in the first half, Connecticut came out in the third quarter firing on all cylinders and converted the halftime deficit into a 45-44 lead with 04:52 remaining. However, Sutton-Brown answered with
eight points within a 3-minute span, all part of 16-4 surge, to help Indiana take a 60-49 edge into final period.
Connecticut coach Mike Thibault was so shocked with the terrific performance of the veteran centre as she said, "It was ridiculous."
Fourth Quarter
Trailing by 11 points at the end of three quarters, Sun gave the Conseco Fieldhouse crowd something to cheer about and trimmed the deficit to four, 65-61, in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
The Fever however, catapulted vociferously and managed to take a nine-point lead, 72-63, with 03:31 to go in the fourth. Connecticut however had some fight left and they made a final roll on the back of Montgomery's 3-pointer and
made it a two-point contest, 72-70 with 13.8 seconds to go. Catchings however pinned a pair of free throws with 12.9 remaining and Shyra Ely drove to the rim at the buzzer to seal the win.
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