Late Rally Lifts Fever Past Dream, Into WNBA Semifinals

Game Recap: Late Rally Lifts Fever Past Dream, Into WNBA Semifinals

The resilient Indiana Fever are moving on to the WNBA Semifinals. Indiana outscored the Dream 7-0 over the final 2:05 on Thursday night in Atlanta to stun the third seed, 87-85, in a decisive Game 3 of their best-of-three first round series.

Trailing 85-80 following Rhyne Howard’s 3-pointer with 2:32 to play, the Fever got back within one possession after Kelsey Mitchell’s layup off a dish from Aliyah Boston. Lexie Hull’s basket with 43.1 seconds remaining made it a one-point game and after Howard missed a three on the other end, Odyssey Sims found Boston for the go-ahead bucket with 7.4 seconds remaining.

After two Atlanta timeouts, Hull came up with a steal on the ensuing inbound. Sims was fouled with 1.2 seconds remaining and hit one of two free throws and Brionna Jones missed a three at the buzzer.

Mitchell led all scorers with 24 points in the victory, 19 of them coming in the first half. Sims tallied 16 points and eight assists, while Boston added 14 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists.

Natasha Howard finished with 12 points and six boards, while Hull scored 10 points and had two steals.

Allisha Gray led the dream with 19 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Jordin Canada also recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists, while Rhyne Howard scored 16.

The Fever will advance to face the winner of Tuesday’s other Game 3 between Las Vegas and Seattle. Game 1 of the best-of-five semifinals will be on Sunday afternoon.