Foul trouble, rough shooting for Fever, who can't get over hump in latest loss to Aces

Foul trouble, rough shooting for Fever, who can’t get over hump in latest loss to Aces

Posted by Admin September 12, 2024 Basketball

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever dropped its third game of the season to Las Vegas, falling 86-75 to the Aces at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday night.

The Fever are now 19-18, still at No. 6 in the WNBA standings. Indiana has a final chance against the Aces on Friday.

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Fever still can’t beat Aces

The only team Indiana hasn’t beaten at least once this season is Las Vegas. And it will stay that way for at least another two days. Indiana has been able to avoid sweeps from all of the top teams in the league, including New York, Connecticut and Seattle.

On Friday, the Fever will have one more chance to beat the Aces, as the two will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a rematch.

For what it’s worth, Indiana’s wins over the top teams didn’t come until the last game of the series — Indiana beat New York in the teams’ fourth and final meeting, as well as Connecticut and Seattle.

What the Aces did to beat them will be fresh on their mind when it comes to Friday’s game, too.

Early foul trouble puts Fever offense out of sorts

The Fever started strong — they began the game on a 7-0 run, frustrating Aces coach Becky Hammon enough that she called a timeout 36 seconds into the game. Then, leading MVP candidate A’ja Wilson found her shot. Wilson proceeded to score the Aces’ first eight points of the game, bringing Las Vegas back into the fold.

After that, Lexie Hull found herself in foul trouble.

Hull picked up two fouls in the first quarter — both shooting fouls on Las Vegas’ forwards. She subbed out for a short time, then kept playing in the second quarter until she picked up her third foul at the 6:15 mark, officially putting her in foul trouble.

Wanting to preserve Hull for the second half, coach Christie Sides subbed her out for the rest of the first half for Kristy Wallace. Wallace, who had started 15 games earlier this season, has been spending most of the time on the bench, especially since the Olympic break. Before Wednesday night, the last time Wallace got in the game for meaningful minutes was on July 6, playing six minutes against the New York Liberty.

Wallace only ended up playing four minutes — Kelsey Mitchell ended up checking in for her around the 2-minute mark, and Katie Lou Samuelson ended the half playing the 4.

Indiana’s rotations looked out of sorts with Hull on the bench in foul trouble, leading them to shoot just 32% from the field in the first half as a whole. Hull only played 10 minutes in the first half, and the Fever’s defense suffered because of it; Las Vegas shot 43% from the field and 45% from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

Aliyah Boston sits most of fourth with foul trouble

Hull didn’t pick up another foul until the fourth quarter, but another crucial starter had to sit going into the fourth.

Second-year center Aliyah Boston, who had dominated the boards with 10 in the first three quarters, was called for her fifth foul with a minute left in the third. Indiana originally challenged the call (a bit late to Las Vegas’ standards, leading Hammon to get a technical), but it was unsuccessful.

So, Boston headed to the bench in place of Temi Fagbenle and Katie Lou Samuelson, who took on the 5 spot. Fagbenle is a proficient rebounder as well, grabbing two in the first minutes of the first quarter. But the Fever were missing Boston’s size in the paint in the final minutes of the game, as she was usually the one to battle Wilson down low.

Boston eventually returned around the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but committed her sixth foul just a minute later against Wilson.

How many points did Caitlin Clark score against the Aces?

Caitlin Clark scored 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting, along with three rebounds and five assists. That puts Clark six assists away from the single-season WNBA record.

Clark also left the game for around two minutes in the first quarter, and she left the bench entirely to go back to the locker room. She quickly returned and got back into the game with no issue.