– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — No, the Indiana Fever don’t want to continue to show how resilient they are by having to step up soon after another key player goes down with an injury. But until their spate of injuries abates, that’s what they’ll have to do for the foreseeable future, and the Fever pried victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday in one of their most impressive comebacks in franchise history.
Kelsey Mitchell scored a career-high-tying 38 points, 34 of those coming after halftime, as the Indiana Fever came back from a 21-point deficit to stun the Connecticut Sun 99-93 in overtime inside Mohegan Sun Arena. Aliyah Boston made a game-tying jumper with 22 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime at 84 before, in the extra period, Lexie Hull nailed a three-pointer with 44.9 seconds remaining to give Indiana an insurmountable seven-point lead.
Boston ended the game with 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, while frontcourt mate Natasha Howard had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Already playing without Caitlin Clark, missing her 13th consecutive game with a groin injury, the Fever saw Sophie Cunningham go down with a knee injury in the second quarter which caused her to miss the rest of the game. The deflating sight of Cunningham being helped to the locker room added to the woe for the Fever on the court, who were down 24-11 after the first quarter and, by halftime, were 19 points in arrears at 48-29. The Fever led 4-1 before the Sun went on a 12-0 run, then Connecticut maintained a double-digit lead for almost the entirety of the first three quarters.
But then Mitchell woke up after the intermission with 14 points in the third quarter, making four of her six shots from the field and all all five of her free throws as the Fever got to within 63-52 to start the fourth.
The Fever completed the near-Sisyphean task of finding level pegging when Mitchell converted a three-point play with 44.7 seconds remaining to tie the game at 82-all. Tina Charles answered with a turnaround jumper on the following possession to give the Sun the lead back from Boston’s basket soon afterward forced the extra session.
Marina Mabrey scored 27 points for the Sun while Charles had 21. Saniya Rivers had 15 points and a career-high five blocks, while Aneesah Morrow put up a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double. Rookie Leïla Lacan had 14 assists.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 54 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
