Football
18y

DeForge, Fever snap Sun's 12-game winning streak

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) -- The Indiana Fever got the confidence
booster they needed in one of the toughest spots to play.

Anna DeForge had 20 points, and Tamika Catchings added 19 to
lead the Fever to an 87-68 win over Connecticut on Friday night,
snapping the Sun's 12-game winning streak and handing the Eastern
Conference leaders just their third loss at home. The Fever (21-12)
also avenged a home defeat two days earlier to the Sun and avoided
a three-game series sweep.

"It is very important for our confidence," Catchings said.
"It was a hard loss for us a couple of days ago and even the first
time we played them down the stretch we weren't able to get over
the hump."

DeForge had four of Indiana's nine 3-pointers, including a
buzzer-beater at the close of the third quarter that gave the Fever
an 11-point lead.

With the WNBA's best record, the Sun (26-7) already had locked
up homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs and were trying to
notch the best record ever for an Eastern Conference team. Instead,
they were handed their worst loss of the season before a sellout
crowd in their regular-season finale. The 19-point defeat was also
the Sun's worst home loss since the franchise moved from Orlando
four years ago.

"I thought it was inevitable that we were going to have a
letdown at some point," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. "We just
got sloppy tonight. But maybe it will refocus a few people to do
the things we need to make sure we are ready to play next Friday
night."

The Sun open the first-round playoffs on the road next week
against Washington.

Indiana, which also wrapped up no worse than the No. 3 seed in
the playoffs, still has a chance to overtake second-seeded Detroit.
The Fever's nine 3-pointers matched a season high, and their 36
field goals were also their most this season. Indiana had 11 steals
and scored 27 points off 18 Sun turnovers.

"Anytime you can beat the Connecticut Sun is a good night,"
Indiana coach Brian Winters said. "They've been the best team all
year. I think we had more to play for than they did."

The Fever have the league's top two leaders in steals in
Catchings (3.07 per game) and Tully Bevilaqua (2.09), but it was
center Ebony Hoffman who finished with a team-high four. Hoffman
and Catchings also grabbed seven rebounds each.

Connecticut forward Nykesha Sales returned to the starting
lineup after missing 12 games because of an injury. She led the Sun
with 17 points and was one of four starters in double figures.
Connecticut was without starter Katie Douglas, sidelined with a
calf injury. Douglas was averaging a team-high 16.4 points a game
and has 73 3-pointers for the season. The Sun managed just one
basket from behind the arc.

"They are a different team with Katie Douglas," Catchings
said. "I am not trying to take anything away from us, but we know
with Katie on the court they are a lot better."

The Fever's reserves and some long-range shooting helped Indiana
rally from an eight-point deficit in the first half. Olympia Scott
and Tan White combined for 12 points and five assists, and DeForge
hit three 3-pointers in the rally.

After the Sun's Lindsay Whalen tied it 23-23 with a three-point
play with 27 seconds left in the first quarter, DeForge hit a 3 to
spark a 7-0 Fever run that gave them the lead for good. Indiana
would lead by as many as 12 in the first half and took a 45-35 lead
at the break. The Sun would get no closer than six the rest of the
way.

Whalen finished with 16 and Taj McWilliams-Franklin's 12 points
gave the Sun forward 3,006 for her career. They just didn't display
the effort they'd shown all season.

"We were casual," McWilliams-Franklin said. "It was not what
you want to see going into Detroit or going into the playoffs."

Both teams close out the regular season on Sunday. The Sun are
at Detroit, and Indiana will host Chicago with one last shot to
secure homecourt advantage in the postseason.

"It is what you fight for all season long," DeForge said.

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