The Indiana Fever finished last season 13-21, but they played better at the end of the season, winning four out of their last six games. Kelsey Mitchell and Teaira McCowan led the charge.
The Fever brought in a new coach, Marianne Stanley. Stanley has been around women’s basketball since 1977. Stanley has been coaching in the WNBA since 2000, but she did leave for two years to become an assistant at Rutgers. In 2002, Stanley won Coach of the Year while coaching the Washington Mystics. Indiana will go as far as Mitchell and McCowan take them.
Kelsey Mitchell
In her second season, Mitchell averaged 13.6 points per game on 38% from the field and 37% from three-point land. Her field goal percentage was not great, but her three-point percentage was good. Mitchell struggled to start last season, but as the season went on, she gained confidence and started playing well. In Indiana’s final game against the Connecticut Sun. Mitchell scored 38 points in a 104-76 victory; she shot 13 for 18 from the field and 9 for 13 from beyond the arc. The nine three’s set a WNBA regular-season record for most three’s in a game. Mitchell must build on that confidence she had at the end of last season for the Fever to succeed.
Coach Stanley wants Mitchell to be the go-to scoring guard, “I’m most interested in her being a consistent go-to scoring guard for us,” Stanley said. “This is a big year for her. A lot of expectations from her rookie season. Time for her to settle in, get comfortable that we can count on.”
Teaira McCowan
Another key player for the Fever will be the second-year center, Teaira McCowan. As rookie McCowan averaged 10.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while shooting 51% from the field. Over the last ten games of the seasons, McCowan averaged 17.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. Including back to back games with 19 and 17 rebounds. McCowan also posted 11 double-doubles on the season, she was another player that started slow but picked up as the season went on. Expect McCowan to develop more this season and try to produce a winning culture this year for the Fever. McCowan will be a force in the paint and should help led an improved Fever team.
Indiana has some good players, Candice Dupree, Erica Wheeler, Tiffany Mitchell, and rookie Lauren Cox. But at the end of the day, it will come down to the law firm of Kelsey Mitchell and Teaira McCowan.
