The Indiana Fever let a championship slip through their collective hands in 2009.
That would not be the case in 2012 as they played spirited, unselfish basketball on the way to their first championship in the history of the franchise, defeating the Minnesota Lynx three games to one before a rowdy and appreciative capacity crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
“There is little doubt that they had more talent and more depth than we did, but our team would just not be denied,” said Fever head coach Lin Dunn to reporters afterwards.
No one played a bigger role for Indiana than the face of the franchise, Finals MVP Tamika Catchings, who can now list an WNBA title to her ultra impressive playing resume. Clearly it was a night of both redemption and accomplishment for the veteran forward who was inspired by her college coach Pat Summit being in attendance.
“When you make it to this league, you want to win a championship,” said Catchings as she tightly held the title trophy in the post game melee. “I cannot begin to explain how sweet this moment is.”
The Fever set the pace early on and held the lead throughout the game, only to have Minnesota tie the contest at 56 in the third quarter. But Indiana would buckle down and force their defensive will upon their opponents from the North Star State who had trouble in the final stanza finding their groove offensively and never seemed comfortable running the fast break.
Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve who was attempting to lead the Lynx to their second consecutive title was philosophical afterwards saying, “It is hard being the hunted, but I felt we had the team to win it again.”
Indiana obviously had other plans in mind and were virtually never challenged by Minnesota in the final four minutes of the game, in part largely due to excellent ball movement and by controlling the boards during crunch time.
* * * * *
NOTES: Tamika Catching who punctuated the series with a splendid 25 points and 8 assists, had plenty of help from the entire staring five. Erin Phillips added 18 points, while Briann January and Shavonte Zellous each had 15 points. Erlana Larkins continued her playoff rebounding mastery by grabbing 13, with 6 of those caroms coming at the offensive end.
* * * * *
Lindsay Whalen who paid high tribute to Catchings after the game led Minnesota with 22 points. Maya Moore added 16 for the Lynx, who saw their leading scorer in the playoffs Seimone Augustus, held in check the final two games by the superlative defensive efforts of Briann January.
* * * * *
The Fever left no money on the table in the deciding game when it came to the charity stripe hitting over 93 percent. Conversely, they shot just 37 percent from the field. Indiana committed only 8 turnovers and had 14 assists on 25 field goals.
* * * * *
Fever owner Herb Simon dedicated the championship to his late brother Melvin, who would have been 86 years old that day. While I have been critical of the Simon family from time to time regarding the financial matters pertaining to the Pacers and the Capital Improvement Board, there can be no denying that they have been great stewards of the WNBA franchise and deserve the championship.
Danny Bridges, who thinks the Fever championship run is as good as any this city has ever seen in any sport, can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
Danny Bridges is an award-winning journalist and a longtime sports columnist for the Indianapolis Recorder. He covers college, professional sports and especially all things IndyCar racing. He can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
