The Indiana Fever is a professional women's basketball team that plays in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Fever are based in Indiana's capital and largest city, Indianapolis. Their first season of play in the league was in 2000. The Fever play at Conseco Fieldhouse, located in downtown Indianapolis. The team is the sister team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

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Franchise history

Catching the Fever (2000-2004)

The Indiana Fever came into existence in 2000, when the state was granted an expansion franchise to coincide with the opening of Conseco Fieldhouse. In their first two seasons, they were coached by women's basketball legends Anne Donovan and Nell Fortner. Led by center Kara Wolters, in their inaugural campaign the team posted a record of 9-23.

The Fever drafted University of Tennessee star Tamika Catchings in the 2001 WNBA Draft. The Fever went into the year with high expectations of a playoff berth, but Catchings tore her ACL during a college game and missed the entire WNBA season. The Fever posted a 10-22 record in 2001.

After missing the entire 2001 season, the 2002 season proved to be the breakout season for Tamika Catchings and the Fever. Catchings came out strong and became one of the most versatile players in the WNBA, easily winning Rookie of the Year honors as well as making the WNBA All-Star team. Her team competed well all year and would post a respectable 16-16 record, tying for the final playoff spot with the Orlando Miracle. Indiana would win the tiebreaker and earn their first playoff appearance in franchise history. They drew the #1 seed in the playoffs, the Liberty; with the Fever losing two games to one.

The 2002-2003 offseason brought a lot of change for the Fever. The team added Olympian Natalie Williams and Charlotte Sting star Kelly Miller before the 2003 season. During the offseason the original coach and GM Nell Fortner would resign. Kelly Krauskopf would replace Fortner as GM and immediately hire Brian Winters to be the head coach. On May 29, 2003 the Fever registered their first sellout of 18,435 and defeated the Washington Mystics on national television. The team would do better under the new coaching, but missed the playoffs, posting a 16-18 record.

The 2004 campaign was very similar to 2003's. The Fever finished with a 15-19 record. They missed the playoffs by one game in the Eastern Conference.

Heating Up (2005-2007)

The Fever had their best season since joining the league in 2005, posting a 21-13 record, and made the playoffs for just the second time. In the first round, the Fever would sweep the New York Liberty two games to none, earning their first playoff series victory in franchise history. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Fever would face the heavily favored Connecticut Sun. Game 1 came down to the final seconds when Katie Douglas hit a crucial three to win the game for the Sun. Game 2 went going into overtime, with the Sun winning in overtime, thus sweeping the Fever two games to none.

In the 2005-2006 offseason, the Fever would acquire All-Star Anna DeForge from the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Kelly Miller. Later that offseason the Fever made another All-Star addition by signing free agent Tamika Whitmore from the Los Angeles Sparks. In the 2006 WNBA Draft they selected athletic swing-forward La'Tangela Atkinson from the North Carolina Tar Heels along with Kasha Terry from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.



The Fever started the 2006 season off at 4-0 and jumped out to an early lead in the Eastern Conference standings. Teammates Tamika Catchings and Tully Bevilaqua led the league in steals 1 and 2 respectively, the first time teammates led the league in 1 statistical category. The Fever posted a 21-13 record, making the playoffs for the second year in a row. In the first round, the Fever would face arch rival Detroit. Detroit won Game 1 in Indianapolis and held a one game to nothing lead in the series. Game 2 in Detroit was a high scoring affair with Tamika Whitmore scoring a WNBA Playoff record 41 points. Detroit won in the end, 98-83 and won the series two games to none.

Going into the 2006-2007 off-season, the Fever looked to improve their post play. In the Dispersal Draft, the Fever would add veteran forward Sheri Sam from the Charlotte Sting. Kelly Krauskoft and the front office then set their eyes on key Free Agent Center Tammy Sutton-Brown, signing her on March 22, 2007. The Fever would also select 6-7 center Alison Bales from Duke University in the 2007 WNBA Draft to go along with Sutton-Brown.

Going into the 2007 season, the Fever had their eyes set on the WNBA Finals. They started off the season strong, winning 16 out of their first 20 games, which was the best 20 game start in history of the Eastern Conference. Then on July 20 key player, Catchings, would injure her foot and would miss the rest of the regular season. The injury was later revealed as a partial tear of her plantar fascia. The Fever would finish 5-9 without Catchings. They managed to win the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, beating out the Connecticut Sun. They played the same Sun team in first round of the playoffs. Game 1 in Connecticut was an epic battle, going three overtimes with the Sun hanging on to win Game 1, 93-88. The Fever would win Game 2 at home by double digits forcing a decisive Game 3. In game 3, the Fever would find themselves down by 22 points late halfway through the 3rd quarter. The Fever battled back to win Game 3 in overtime by the same score as Game 1 93-88. The 22-point comeback was the largest comeback in WNBA Playoff history. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Fever played their other hated rival, the Detroit Shock. The Fever would grab an early lead in the series, winning Game 1 at Conseco Fieldhouse. With the team just 1 game away from the WNBA Finals the Fever traveled to Detroit. In Game 2, the game would be close until the 2nd quarter, when the Shock would blow the game wide open with a 14-0 run, and would easily win the game. With a spot in the Finals up for grabs in Game 3, the Fever would start off the game with an early 17-3 lead. Then late in the first half Catchings went down with another injury. This time she had completely tore her Achilles tendon. The Shock ended up winning Game 3, 85-61.

Cooling Down (2008)

On October 26, 2007 The Fever announced that they have declined the option for head coach, Brian Winters. Ending his four year tenure as Head coach. ^[1] He compiled a 78-58 regular season record with a 5-7 playoff record. On December 12, 2007 assistant coach Lin Dunn was named his successor to the job as Head coach. ^[2]

In one of the biggest trades in WNBA History the Fever traded Tamika Whitmore and their first-round pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft for Indianapolis native, Katie Douglas on February 19, 2008. ^[3]

The Fever were part of the Liberty Outdoor Classic, which was the first regular-season professional basketball game played outdoors. It was played between the Fever and New York Liberty at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York on July 19, 2008 with the Fever winning the game, 71-55.

On the Edge (2009-present)

After a disappointing season in 2008, the Fever are looking to improve in 2009. Indiana Pacers owners have said the Fever has been losing money. Perhaps the only thing to save the Fever from folding in the near future, the owners infer, is for the Fever to be successful on the court and at the box office.

By the 2009 All-Star break, the Fever had already taken the challenge of the owners. After starting the season 0-2, the Fever screamed into first place in the league with a franchise-record eleven game winning streak.

Uniforms

• 2000-2006: The home jerseys were white with red, dark blue and yellow on the sides. On the front, Fever was written across. The road jersey were dark blue with red and yellow on the sides. Indiana in red letters trimmed with white on the chest.
• 2007-Present: Home jerseys are white with blue and yellow strips/trim from the neck down the side. Fever is written in red across the front and on the back the player name is written in all dark blue under the number also in red trimmed in dark blue. The new road jerseys are dark blue with yellow and white trim/strips. Indiana is written on the front in red with white trim and on the back the number is in red with white trim with the player's name underneath in all white. Each jersey has the Fever's alternate logo at the top on the back.

Season-by-season records

Season	Team	Conference		Regular season			Playoff Results
				W	L	PCT
Indiana Fever
2000	2000	East	7th	9	23	.281
2001	2001	East	6th	10	22	.313
2002	2002	East	4th	16	16	.500	Lost Conference Semifinals (New York, 1-2)
2003	2003	East	5th	16	18	.471
2004	2004	East	6th	15	19	.441
2005	2005	East	2nd	21	13	.618	Won Conference Semifinals (New York, 2-0) Lost Conference Finals (Connecticut, 0-2)
2006	2006	East	3rd	21	13	.618	Lost Conference Semifinals (Detroit, 0–2)
2007	2007	East	2nd	21	13	.618	Won Conference Semifinals (Connecticut, 2–1) Lost Conference Finals (Detroit, 1–2)
2008	2008	East	4th	17	17	.500	Lost Conference Semifinals (Detroit, 1–2)
2009	2009	East	1st	20	7	.741	TBD
Regular season				166	161	.509	0 Conference Championships
Playoffs				7	11	.388	0 WNBA Championships

Players and coaches

Current roster

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Coaches and staff

Current staff

• Lin Dunn, Head Coach (2008-Present)
• Gary Kloppenburg, Assistant Coach (2008-Present)
• Jim Lewis, Assistant Coach (2008-Present)
• Ruth Helland, Athletic Trainer (2008-Present)
• Brandon Johnson, Strength and Conditioning Coach (2008-Present)

Past head coaches

• Nell Fortner (2001-2003), now coaches the women's team at Auburn University
• Anne Donovan (2000) (Hall of Famer), now head coach of the New York Liberty
• Brian Winters (2004-2007)

Former players

• Anna DeForge, now a member of the Detroit Shock
• Linda Frohlich
• Sonja Henning
• Niele Ivey, currently an assistant coach at Notre Dame
• Nikki McCray
• Kelly Miller, now a member of the Minnesota Lynx
• Bridget Pettis, now an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury
• Kristen Rasmussen
• Kelly Schumacher
• Olympia Scott
• Charlotte Smith
• Ann Strother
• Coquese Washington, currently head coach for Penn State Nittany Lions women's basketball team
• Stephanie White, now an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky and at the University of Toledo
• Tamika Whitmore, now a member of the Connecticut Sun
• Natalie Williams
• Rita Williams
• Kara Wolters

All-Stars

• 2000 : None
• 2001 : Rita Williams
• 2002 : Tamika Catchings
• 2003 : Tamika Catchings, Natalie Williams
• 2004 : Natalie Williams
• 2005 : Tamika Catchings
• 2006 : Tamika Catchings, Tamika Whitmore
• 2007 : Tamika Catchings, Anna DeForge, Tammy Sutton-Brown
• 2008 : No All-Star Game
• 2009 : Tamika Catchings, Katie Douglas

Media coverage

Chris Denari and Jane Schott are the play by play announcers for Fever games on WFNI, while Denari and Debbie Antonelli are the announcers for games that are carried by FSN Indiana. When a game is televised, a backup team of announcers is employed on WFNI.

References

1. Fever Declines Option On Winters Contract
2. Dunn Named Fever’s Fourth Head Coach
3. Fever Acquires Hometown Star Katie Douglas In Trade With Connecticut