Fever scorch Sun, win seventh straight

Sports

July 6, 2009

By Kevin Leibrock The Hendricks County Flyer Mon Jul 06, 2009, 07:35 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever’s hot streak continues.

Click Here for Photo Gallery

Fueled by four starters scoring double figures, the Fever crushed the Connecticut Sun 67-53 Thursday night before a crowd of 6,468 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The win — Indiana’s seventh straight — set a new franchise record for consecutive victories.

“I didn’t know that,” Fever coach Lin Dunn said of the new franchise mark. “I don’t keep up with records. The only thing that matters is the first quarter of the next game. We try to win each quarter.”

Less than a month ago, the Fever suffered a 22-point loss to Atlanta that dropped them to 0-2.

Since then, they’ve done nothing but win. Dunn offered a simple reason for the team’s resurgence — improved defense.

“Defend, defend, and defend,” Dunn said. “If you defend, you’re going to have opportunities to score off your defense. Night in and night out, if we can consistently defend, we’ll have a chance to win.”

Tammy Sutton-Brown scored 14 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and blocked five shots to lead Indiana (7-2). Her rebound and block totals each fell one shy of career highs.

“I was really excited about how well Tammy Sutton-Brown played tonight,” Dunn said. “She was running the floor well and posting up. It’s super to see our center establish herself like that against a really good team.”

Lindsay Whalen led the Sun (4-4) with 11 points. Connecticut’s Tamika Whitmore scored eight points and Tan White added six points.

Whitmore and White are both former Fever players.

Indiana shot 46 percent from the field in the first quarter, and used an 11-0 run early in the period to build a 16-5 lead. The Fever led 21-11 after one.

Midway through the second, Whalen drove to the basket for a lay-up that brought Connecticut to within 25-24. But a basket from Sutton-Brown and a three-pointer from Katie Douglas helped Indiana push the lead back to 30-26 at halftime.

“Connecticut is well-coached, very talented, and they’re not going to lay down and die,” Dunn said. “So we expected some runs. What we had to do was counter those runs, and we were able to do that very well tonight.”

Indiana scored 11 straight points to open the third, taking a 48-30 advantage on a driving lay-up from Tamika Catchings with 5:45 to play in the period. The Fever led by double digits the rest of the way.

Indiana hosts the Atlanta Dream (4-6) at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.

The teams last met in the June 6 season opener, when six-time All-Star Chamique Holdsclaw scored 23 points to lead the Dream to an 87-86 double-overtime victory.

“I know our defense is better know than it was opening night,” Dunn said. “But they’re a very good team. They’ve got a lot of weapons that are as good as or better than any team in the league. We’ve got to be ready for another big game.”

kevin.leibrock@flyergroup.com

Text Only

Sports

Bethesda makes history with sectional win
BROWNSBURG — Senior Olivia Harrison literally helped build Bethesda Christian’s field four years ago and Thursday night she was instrumental in breaking ground in another area for the Patriots — a sectional championship.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Cadets fall to Eagles in sectional final
CLAYTON — Despite all of Cascade’s best efforts, the Cadets came up short in their sectional softball final for the second consecutive year. Three Cadet errors late in the game set up the South Putnam Eagles’ win.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Heartbreaking loss ends Orioles’ season prematurely
INDIANAPOLIS — It was not supposed to end like this.

Graduating only two seniors from last year’s Class 4A state runner-up softball team and returning the core of its squad, this was going to be to the season the Avon softball team took the crown.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Bulldogs bite Orioles
AVON — The contest between the Avon and Brownsburg baseball teams would have ended as a 1-0 advantage for the Bulldogs had the second and third innings not gotten away from the Orioles. Brownsburg caught fire in those two innings of Thursday’s sectional game and won convincingly, 7-1.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Patriots eliminate Quakers
PLAINFIELD — Baseball legend Willie Keeler once said the secret of hitting was to “hit ‘em where they ain’t.” Unfortunately for the Plainfield Quakers baseball team, too many of their key at bats went to Terre Haute North fielders as the Patriots won a 5-1 decision over the host Quakers in the opening game of Class 4A Sectional 12 on Wednesday.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Bulldogs wake up in sixth inning, pull off comeback win
INDIANAPOLIS— For five innings, it looked like Brownsburg’s postseason run would end the same night it begun.

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Cadets blow by Bulldogs, 9-0
CLAYTON — Following a 9-1 win over Cloverdale on Monday night, the Cascade softball team returned to the field for second round play against Monrovia on Tuesday in the 2012 2A Sectional No. 44 semifinal.

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Avon's doubles team advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Avon’s top doubles girls’ tennis team could have lost concentration after an early advantage.

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
Bruins win late to advance in sectional, 3-2
BEECH GROVE - With three hits through five innings, the Tri-West softball team needed some offense and the bottom of its lineup came through.

May 22, 2012
Bulldogs fall in sectional final
BROWNSBURG — Heading into the sectional final last Saturday, the Brownsburg girls’ tennis team sought its 10th sectional championship. After four matches had finished, it was knotted up at 2-2 with the No. 2 singles match heading into the third and deciding set.

May 22, 2012 1 Photo
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Fever scorch Sun, win seventh straight

Do you think using a tanning bed is worth the risk of skin Cancer?

Site Map