Indiana Fever make playoffs for the first time since 2016

For the first time in eight years, the Indiana Fever have made the WNBA playoffs, snapping the longest playoff drought by any team in league history.

Indiana’s starters, who include Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, NaLyssa Smith and Aliyah Boston were all drafted by the Fever after their last playoff run in 2016. This roster is full of young players who will have their first playoff experiences in the WNBA.

Clark, Boston, Smith, Hull, Mitchell, Grace Berger, Victaria Saxton, and Kristy Wallace have all never been part of a WNBA playoff game or roster. Veterans Damiras Dantas, Erica Wheeler, Katie Lou Samuelson and Temi Fagbenle, however, have been part of previous playoff and championship teams.

Dantas was in the playoffs with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015, while Fagbenle was on the Lynx championship team her rookie season in 2017. Wheeler appeared in playoff games during her first two seasons with the New York Liberty in 2015 and played in the last playoffs with the Fever in 2016. Samuelson has played in the playoffs with the Chicago Sky and Seattle Storm in 2019 and 2021.

After a rough first half of the season, the Fever only had one Olympian on their team, Wallace, who won a bronze medal with Australia. The Olympic break was perfect for the team to work together, grow, and come back on fire for the second half of the season.

Operations coordinator Shannon Norton explained what the Olympic Break was like for the team.

“The Olympic break was super beneficial for our team,” Norton said. “We were able to take time to work on the finer details of things and bond more as a team and build our team chemistry,”

With the ecstatic energy the Fever came out of the Olympic break with a 7-1 record only losing to the Lynx. Since then, the Fever have lost four games, one to Washington to end the regular season, one to the Lynx again as well as two to the Aces, while winning against the Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings.

With a successful draft this year getting Clark with the number one pick, the Fever knew the playoffs were going to be an opportunity. After a huge loss on June 2 to the New York Liberty, Mitchell foreshadowed the future in a press conference.

“We could be a really great playoff team if we put our minds to it,” Mitchell said.

The team’s abilities during the playoffs is something all the players have confidence in. When asked about clinching a playoff spot, Clark explained her mindset about it in a pregame press conference.

“I came in with the expectation that this is what’s gonna happen… I’m not just happy to be in the playoffs, I think we have the type of team that can win and advance,” Clark said.

The playoffs start on September 22 with the Fever sitting in the sixth seed. They will face the Connecticut Sun who is the third seed in Connecticut for the first two games of the series.

Norton, who has been with the Fever for three seasons, mentioned what it is like to be a part of this season and the growth of the women’s game firsthand.

“It’s very surreal at moments because every single game is a packed arena. We've seen more and more Fever gear on people on the streets, even on days when we don’t have games,” Norton said. “Being with the team for three seasons, I’ve seen it all now. The growth has been tremendous with our fan base as well as with the league fan base as a whole.”

Kenzie Pittenger is a senior majoring in Sport Management with a certificate in Journalism. In her free time, Kenzie enjoys working for the Pacers and Fever while keeping up with Women’s College Basketball. Insta: @kenziepittenger27

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