Even with Caitlin Clark still out of action due to a groin injury, the Indiana Fever have found the formula for success after running their winning streak to a season-high five games with Sunday’s 78-74 victory over the Seattle Storm.
The biggest driving force for the Fever during this streak has been Aliyah Boston. The three-time All-Star finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds against the Storm, her sixth consecutive double-double.
Boston really stepped up in the clutch, scoring 11 of her 17 points and grabbing four rebounds in the fourth quarter to help the Fever hang on for the win.
Indiana led by as many as 10 points in the final period, but the Storm went on a 13-2 run in the span of 4:18 late to cut the deficit to one after Dominique Malonga’s layup with 12.2 seconds left to play.
Kelsey Mitchell, who otherwise had her worst shooting game of the season (3-of-16), made her biggest play of the day coming out of the timeout following Malonga’s bucket. She caught the inbounds pass, found an open lane to the basket and got a layup to extend the lead back to three with eight seconds left on the game clock.
Natasha Howard led the scoring charge for Indiana with 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting, along with five rebounds and five assists. Sophie Cunningham, who has been starting in Clark’s absence, turned in her best offensive game of the season with 17 points.
Cunningham was 4-of-5 from three-point range. The rest of the Fever combined to go 0-of-17 behind the arc.
Indiana’s defense did a terrific job of slowing down the Storm. Nneka Ogwumike, two days after putting up 37 points in a double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, was held to 16 points on 7-of-20 shooting.
Gabby Williams found success with a near double-double, putting up 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
This was a huge game in the playoff race with five weeks remaining in the regular season. These two teams entered Sunday tied for the No. 5 seed with matching 16-12 records.
The Fever are immediately in sole possession of the fifth spot and could end the day at No. 4 if the Phoenix Mercury lose to the Chicago Sky on Sunday night.
Indiana’s five-game winning streak is tied for its longest over the last nine seasons. The last time the team won six consecutive games was in 2015. They can match that streak on Tuesday against the Sparks in Los Angeles.
Things won’t get easier for the Storm as they look to avoid losing three straight games, as they will host the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday.
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