Indiana Fever

A Women's National Basketball Association team based in Indianapolis. The Fever was added to the league as an expansion team before the 2000 season.

Going into 2002, the Fever have never made the playoffs, finishing 9-23 in its first season and 10-22 the next summer. Indiana may break into the postseason in 2002, however. The club is a respectable 6-7 at the time of this writeup and is benefiting from forward Tamika Catching's quick ascension into stardom.

On January 15, 2001, Catchings tore her Anterior Cruciate Ligament while playing in a game for the University of Tennessee. That Spring, the Fever drafted Catchings with their top pick in the draft — Catchings was that good of a player in college — and in 2002, Catchings is healthy again and kicking butt. She leads the team in points per game (18.5), rebounds per game (9.0) and assists per game (4.2).

Other key players on the Fever are:

• Nikki McCray, a veteran shooting guard acquired from the Washington Mystics in a trade after the 2001 season. In 2002 McCray is second on the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game.
• Olympia Scott-Richardson, a center from Stanford on her third WNBA team. She's the Fever's only consistent post player.
• Rita Williams, the point guard.
• A mob of power forwards, none of whom are good enough to earn the majority of playing time; most prominent among them are Nadine Malcolm and Alicia Thompson.

The Fever's home arena is the Conseco Fieldhouse, which they share with the NBA's Indiana Pacers. The Fever is coached by Nell Fortner.

Sources/More info:
http://www.indystar.com/sports/fever/
http://www.wnba.com/fever