2019 Indiana Fever season explained

The 2019 WNBA season was the 20th season for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Fever opened the season on May 24, 2019 against the New York Liberty.^[1]

The Fever had a promising start to their season, winning three of their first four games. However, from there they lost eight of their next ten to finish June with a 5–9 record. July proved disastrous for any playoff hopes the team had. Six losses in the month were book-ended by two wins. One bright spot from July was that Erica Wheeler was named WNBA All-Star Game MVP. The Fever's form improved into August where they posted a 4–5 record. Winning their last two games proved too little too late, as they missed out on a playoff spot for the third straight year.

After the season, it was announced that General Manager and Head Coach Pokey Chatman would not return for the 2020 season.^[2]

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2019 WNBA draft. The Fever made three selections in the 2019 WNBA draft, which was held on April 10:

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	3	Teaira McCowan		Mississippi State
3	25	Paris Kea		North Carolina
3	28	Caliya Robinson		Georgia

Trades and roster changes

Date	Details
February 1, 2019	Signed F Natalie Achonwa[3] [4]
	Signed G Shenise Johnson
	Signed Erica Wheeler
February 5, 2019	Signed G/F Betnijah Laney[5] [6]
February 18, 2019	Signed F Asia Taylor to Training Camp Contract[7]
April 12, 2019	Signed G Crystal Bradford to Training Camp Contract[8]
	Signed G Bria Gross to Training Camp Contract

Schedule

Preseason

|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 1| May 14| @ Chicago Sky| W 69–58| K. Mitchell (11)| McCowan (8)| K. Mitchell (4)| Wintrust Arena
4,033| 1–0|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 2| May 16| Chicago Sky| W 76–65| T. Mitchell (15)| Tied (7)| Wheeler (8)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
3,794| 2–0|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 3| May 19| @ Dallas Wings| W 71–66| K. Mitchell (26)| McCowan (6)| Johnson (6)| College Park Center
3,428| 3–0

Regular season

|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 1| May 24| @ New York Liberty| W 81–80| T. Mitchell (22)| Dupree (7)| Wheeler (5)| Westchester County Center
1,965| 1–0|- style="background:#fcc"| 2| May 28| @ Connecticut Sun| L 77–88| Wheeler (26)| Dupree (8)| Wheeler (9)| Mohegan Sun Arena
4,781| 1–1|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 3| June 1| New York Liberty| W 92–77 | K. Mitchell (23)| McCowan (6)| Wheeler (6)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,003| 2–1|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 4| June 7| Dallas Wings| W 79–64 | Achonwa (17)| Tied (11)| Wheeler (9)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
3,671| 3–1|- style="background:#fcc"| 5| June 9| Phoenix Mercury| L 87–94 | K. Mitchell (26)| Achonwa (7)| K. Mitchell (6)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
3,336| 3–2|- style="background:#fcc"| 6| June 11| Seattle Storm| L 82–84 | K. Mitchell (21)| Dupree (15)| K. Mitchell (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
3,506| 3–3|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 7| June 13| @ Dallas Wings| W 76–72 | Dupree (20)| Laney (11) | T. Mitchell (5)| College Park Center
3,562| 4–3|- style="background:#fcc"| 8| June 15| Chicago Sky| L 64–70 | K. Mitchell (16)| T. Mitchell (8)| Wheeler (8)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
4,715| 4–4|- style="background:#fcc"| 9| June 19| @ Atlanta Dream| L 78–88 | Dupree (19)| McCowan (14)| Wheeler (5)| State Farm Arena
6,474| 4–5|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 10| June 21| @ Chicago Sky| W 76–69 | Wheeler (28)| McCowan (13)| Wheeler (8)| Wintrust Arena
4,945| 5–5|- style="background:#fcc"| 11| June 23| @ Seattle Storm| L 61–65 | Wheeler (18)| McCowan (13)| Wheeler (4)| Alaska Airlines Arena
7,211| 5–6|- style="background:#fcc"| 12| June 25| Minnesota Lynx| L 74–78 | K. Mitchell (17)| 3 tied (7)| Wheeler (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
4,692| 5–7|- style="background:#fcc"| 13| June 28| @ Phoenix Mercury| L 69–91 | Dupree (15)| McCowan (10)| Wheeler (3)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
9,435| 5–8|- style="background:#fcc"| 14| June 29| @ Las Vegas Aces| L 97–102 (OT) | K. Mitchell (21)| Achonwa (9)| Wheeler (8)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,581| 5–9|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 15| July 5| @ Dallas Wings| W 76–58| T. Mitchell (16)| McCowan (12)| Wheeler (7)| College Park Center
5,093| 6–9|- style="background:#fcc"| 16| July 10| Las Vegas Aces| L 71–74| Dupree (13)| McCowan (12)| Wheeler (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
9,247| 6–10|- style="background:#fcc"| 17| July 12| Los Angeles Sparks| L 84–90| Tied (11)| 3 tied (5)| K. Mitchell (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,849| 6–11|- style="background:#fcc"| 18| July 14| Connecticut Sun| L 63–76| K. Mitchell (14)| McCowan (8)| Tied (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,434| 6–12|- style="background:#fcc"| 19| July 19| Washington Mystics| L 88–95 (OT)| Wheeler (18)| Achonwa (12)| Wheeler (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,726| 6–13|- style="background:#fcc"| 20| July 21| @ Chicago Sky| L 70–78| Wheeler (13)| McCowan (16)| Wheeler (9)| Wintrust Arena
6,614| 6–14|- style="background:#fcc"| 21| July 23| @ Phoenix Mercury| L 77–95| Wheeler (18)| McCowan (9)| Wheeler (9)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,528| 6–15|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 22| July 31| Atlanta Dream| W 61–59| Wheeler (15)| McCowan (14)| K. Mitchell (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,702| 7–15|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 23| August 3| Minnesota Lynx| W 86–75| K. Mitchell (20)| McCowan (8)| K. Mitchell (9)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,884| 8–15|- style="background:#fcc"| 24| August 8| @ Washington Mystics| L 78–91| K. Mitchell (18)| Mavunga (6)| K. Mitchell (6)| St. Elizabeth's East Arena
3,013| 8–16|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 25| August 10| Atlanta Dream| W 87–82| Wheeler (19)| Dupree (9)| Wheeler (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,923| 9–16|- style="background:#fcc"| 26| August 18| @ Washington Mystics| L 68–107| T. Mitchell (17)| McCowan (10)| Achonwa (5)| St. Elizabeth's East Arena
4,034| 9–17|- style="background:#fcc"| 27| August 20| New York Liberty| L 76–82| McCowan (24)| McCowan (8)| Tied (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,340| 9–18|- style="background:#fcc"| 28| August 22| @ Los Angeles Sparks| L 65–98| K. Mitchell (14)| McCowan (7)| Wheeler (6)| Staples Center
8,816| 9–19|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 29| August 25| @ Seattle Storm| W 63–54| McCowan (22)| McCowan (19)| Tied (3)| Alaska Airlines Arena
8,076| 10–19|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 30| August 27| Las Vegas Aces| W 86–71| McCowan (24)| McCowan (17)| 4 tied (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,958| 11–19|- style="background:#fcc"| 31| August 29| Los Angeles Sparks| L 83–87| McCowan (24)| McCowan (10)| K. Mitchell (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,641| 11–20|- style="background:#fcc"| 32| September 1| @ Minnesota Lynx| L 73–81| Dupree (18)| McCowan (11)| T. Mitchell (6)| Target Center
8,833| 11–21|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 33| September 6| @ New York Liberty| W 86–81| K. Mitchell (22)| McCowan (13)| Wheeler (6)| Westchester County Center
2,301| 12–21|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 34| September 8| Connecticut Sun| W 104–76| K. Mitchell (38)| McCowan (9)| Laney (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,451| 13–21

Standings

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Candice Dupree	WNBA All-Star Selection	July 15, 2019	[9]
Erica Wheeler
Teaira McCowan	WNBA All-Rookie Team	September 16, 2019	[10]

Statistics

Regular season

Source:^[11]

style= width="16%"	Player	style= width="6%"	GP	style= width="6%"	GS	style= width="6%"	MPG	style= width="6%"	FG%	style= width="6%"	3P%	style= width="6%"	FT%	style= width="6%"	RPG	style= width="5%"	APG	style= width="6%"	SPG	style= width="6%"	BPG	style= width="6%"	PPG
Kelsey Mitchell	34	20	25.1	38.7	37.4	83.6	1.6	2.6	0.4	0.1	13.6
Candice Dupree	34	34	30.7	47.2	0	83.9	5.0	2.5	0.4	0.6	11.6
Erica Wheeler	34	34	25.0	42.8	38.4	87.2	3.0	5.0	1.2	0.1	10.1
Teaira McCowan	34	16	22.1	51.7	0	68.7	9.0	0.2	0.6	1.3	10.0
Tiffany Mitchell	33	14	25.2	38.1	29.0	89.2	2.8	2.2	0.6	0.1	9.7
Natalie Achonwa	30	18	21.1	48.8	25.0	90.9	5.2	1.6	0.6	0.7	8.7
Betnijah Laney	34	27	25.8	36.2	30.3	58.1	4.2	1.7	1.4	0.1	5.6
Shenise Johnson	17	0	12.9	33.3	24.2	93.8	2.1	1.1	0.7	0.1	12.9
Kennedy Burke	31	7	13.6	38.5	35.0	70.5	1.5	0.7	0.6	0.3	4.4
Paris Kea	11	0	5.5	40.7	55.6	50.0	0.5	0.5	0.1	0.2	2.6
Stephanie Mavunga	24	0	8.5	51.1	0	70.6	2.3	0.2	0.3	0.3	2.5
Erica McCall	15	0	6.9	13.6	0	100	1.8	0.4	0.1	0.4	0.9

External links

• The Official Site of the Indiana Fever

Notes and References

1. Web site: Indiana Fever WNBA Basketball - Schedule. Fever.wnba.com. February 15, 2019.
2. Web site: Pokey Chatman Will Not Return As Head Coach & General Manager. WNBA.com. WNBA. September 9, 2019. September 11, 2019.
3. Web site: Achonwa, Johnson and Wheeler Sign Free Agent Deals. fever.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2019. February 15, 2019.
4. Web site: Fever re-sign Natalie Achonwa, Shenise Johnson and Erica Wheeler. espn.com. Associated Press. February 1, 2019. February 15, 2019.
5. Web site: Fever Sign Betnijah Laney to Free Agent Contract. fever.wnba.com. WNBA. February 5, 2019. February 15, 2019.
6. Web site: Report: Indiana Fever set to sign Betnijah Laney. highposthoops.com. Howard. Megdal. February 8, 2019. February 15, 2019.
7. Web site: Asia Taylor Signs Training Camp Contract to Return to Fever. fever.wnba.com. WNBA. February 18, 2019. February 20, 2019.
8. Web site: Fever Sign Crystal Bradford and Bria Goss to training camp contracts. fever.wnba.com. WNBA. April 12, 2019. April 15, 2019.
9. Web site: Seven-Time Selection Charles, Dupree, Highlight Reserves For All-Star. wnba.com. WNBA. July 15, 2019. July 16, 2019.
10. Web site: Rookie of the Year Collier Headlines 2019 All-Rookie Team. wnba.com. WNBA. September 16, 2019. September 16, 2019.
11. Web site: Team Stats. WNBA. dream.wnba.com. September 16, 2019.