Mitchell, Fever look to rebound from Game 1 loss to Sun

Kelsey Mitchell was not rattled after playing in her first playoff game Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.

The seven-year WNBA veteran had a confident tone to her voice following the Fever’s Game 1 loss to the Sun. 

“Confidence doesn’t waver,” Mitchell said with a stoic look on her face. “I don’t think you just drop off because it didn’t go our way. I think this is a game that’s imperfect, that has imperfections, and I think that for us, we dropped the ball. We just didn’t play well.”

Mitchell, who led Indiana with 21 points Sunday, knows her young team can play much better.

“Going forward, you keep your confidence, you know what it is, but you take accountability as a player and as a team, and you look forward to Wednesday,” Mitchell said.

The Fever lacked a sense of urgency from the tip in Game 1. The Sun, on the other hand, looked exactly like a team full of players with postseason experience.

Entering Sunday’s contest, Connecticut’s roster had 222 games of playoff experience. Indiana, on the other hand, had just 19 games of playoff experience.

The result was a lopsided 93-69 loss -- the largest postseason defeat in franchise history. Not an ideal showing for the Fever, who are making their first playoff appearance since 2016. 

“They’re a really good team with a lot of experience, and they know what it takes to step up to that next level, that playoff level,” said Indiana head coach Christie Sides. “That’s what we’re going to be, and that’s who we are going to become. They made it really difficult, and we’ve got to close that gap. We’ve got another opportunity on Wednesday to come back and then take this thing home.”

Caitlin Clark, who was poked in the eye early in the first quarter Sunday, struggled shooting the ball in the loss, finishing with 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting (2-for-13 from three) from the field. She added eight assists and four rebounds. 

“Obviously, (she) got me pretty good in the eye. I don’t think it affected me, honestly,” said Clark, who was named Associated Press Rookie of the Year on Sunday. Clark also received All-WNBA First Team honors. “I felt like I got good shots ... they just didn’t go down.

“We can win (Wednesday). Like I have all the confidence in the world in this team.”

Indiana beat Connecticut just once in the four meetings between the teams during the regular season. In that particular game, which was played on Aug. 28, the Fever held the Sun to 80 points. Another sound defensive effort will be needed Wednesday if Indiana wants to avoid elimination.

The Fever will also need to steer clear of poor stretches of play. Connecticut outscored Indiana 25-12 in the fourth quarter Sunday. 

“I think we got rattled in the third quarter when they started hitting shots,” Sides said. “That fourth quarter, we stopped scoring. Then they had some late buckets after the game was out of reach.”

Slowing down Alyssa Thomas and Marina Mabrey will be crucial as well. Thomas had a triple-double in Game 1, the 15th of her career, while Mabrey scored the most points ever off the bench (27 points) in a playoff game.

Mabrey was traded to Connecticut in July due to the team needing more offensive firepower. She gave them that in Game 1 as she finished 5-for-12 from 3-point range.

“Good players are going to make good plays,” Sides said.

As a team, the Sun finished the game shooting 49% from the field, including a 9-for-18 effort from behind the arc. During the regular season, Connecticut averaged 5.9 made threes per game.

“Everybody was ready to go. Everyone stepped up and that is what it is going to take,” said Sun head coach Stephanie White. “But when you are a team that shoots the ball the way Indiana does, with the way the 3-point shot affects the game, you’re never safe.”

Game 2 will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN. If necessary, Game 3 will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday. 

Krauskopf returning to Fever in key role

According to a press release, Kelly Krauskopf, who shaped the Indiana Fever into one of the WNBA’s winningest franchises as President and General Manager, will return to the team as President of Basketball and Business Operations when the 2024 season concludes.

Krauskopf led the franchise from 2000 until 2018, when she left to become the Indiana Pacers’ Assistant General Manager and the first woman in League history to hold an executive basketball management role.

“The WNBA and the Fever have always been a part of me, and it is truly a privilege to be asked to return to lead this team at this unprecedented time of the growth in women’s basketball,” said Krauskopf. “I want to thank Kevin Pritchard for asking me to join his management staff six years ago. There’s no doubt that experience will serve me well as I enter this next chapter.”

One of the most respected executives in basketball, Krauskopf’s career in leadership at the collegiate, NBA, WNBA and Olympic levels spans more than 35 years. In 1996, she was named the WNBA’s first Director of Basketball Operations, helping craft the rules, scheduling and officiating policies for the league as it prepared to launch its inaugural season.

Krauskopf joined the Fever in 2000 prior to the team’s first year, and under her leadership the franchise became one of the WNBA’s most successful. Her Fever teams made the postseason 13 times and played in three WNBA Finals in seven years, including capturing the 2012 WNBA championship with head coach Lin Dunn leading Naismith Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings and a talented roster to the title.

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