INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO) – The Indiana Fever open the franchise’s 25th season on Tuesday night at the Connecticut Sun for the first of four matchups this season.
Tuesday marks the second year in a row the Fever and Sun meet for the regular season opener. The Sun traveled to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the inaugural matchup of the 2023 season and beat Indiana, 70-61. Entering Tuesday, Connecticut has won each of the last eight meetings against the Fever. Indiana has a 9-15 record in road openers and is 11-13 overall in regular-season opening games.
Tuesday will mark the debut for the 2024 Indiana Fever and the 2024 No.1 draft pick from the University of Iowa, Caitlin Clark. In Indiana’s two preseason matchups this year, Clark scored a team-high 21 points against the Dallas Wings, and then followed up with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds against the Atlanta Dream.
Clark’s debut alongside 2023 No. 1 draft pick and last year’s unanimous WNBA Rookie of the Year, Aliyah Boston, mark the fourth time in WNBA history a team selected No. 1 overall picks in consecutive seasons.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell enters her seventh season with Indiana as the second leading scorer in franchise history, while forward NaLyssa Smith and guard Erica Wheeler round out a talented rotation. Mitchell averaged 18.2 points and was the team’s leading scorer last season and Smith led the team in rebounds with 9.2 per game last year. Smith scored a team-high 21 points in last Thursday’s preseason contest against the Dream. Wheeler became the first player in franchise history in 2023 to record at least 200 assists in a regular season.
Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson returns to familiar stomping grounds Tuesday as she spent her college career at the University of Connecticut, becoming the Huskies’ No. 5 all-time leading scorer with 2,342 career-points. Indiana signed Samuelson, who enters her fifth season in the WNBA, early in 2024 as a free agent
Along with Clark, the Fever used the No. 15 draft pick this year to select Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Taylor was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year this season by the conference’s coaches, a year after earning ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors at Duke.
The Connecticut Sun finished third in the 2023 WNBA regular season standings and advanced to the second round of the 2023 WNBA playoffs in head coach Stephanie White’s first year at the helm.
Going into Tuesday, Connecticut boasts another experienced roster led by DeWanna Bonner, who led the team in scoring last year at 17.4 points per game, and forward Alyssa Thomas, a 10-year veteran and four-time WNBA All-Star, who led Connecticut in rebounds (9.9), assists (7.9) and steals (1.8) in 2023.
After signing via free agency on February 1, Rachel Banham emerged as the top scorer in Connecticut’s sole preseason match against the Liberty, notching 20 points to go along with Bonner’s 16 points.
HOW TO WATCH:
Thursday’s game will be broadcast on ESPN 2, Disney+ and on WNBA League Pass. Fans and media may follow along on the official Indiana Fever twitter accounts @IndianaFever and @IndianaFeverPR for updates.
