“We Were Sleepwalking”: Stephanie White Sounds Alarm as Fever’s Winning Streak Ends Against Wings Following Firing Call

The scoreline points firmly to the Indiana Fever’s second-half performance as the defining factor in their loss against the Dallas Wings on Thursday night. Indiana was tied 42-42 at halftime, only to be outscored 49-43 in the second half, surrendering both the third and fourth quarters. For head coach Stephanie White, who Indiana’s Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith wanted the Fever to fire, the numbers told a different story from the one she actually watched. In her view, the first half was the more alarming half.

“I thought the first half was worse than the second half. I thought our energy, our activity, our awareness wasn’t great in the first half at all. It was almost like we were sleepwalking. It was better in the second half. But you know, Arike did what Arike does, right? And sometimes that’s really hard to stop,” White said during the postgame press conference shared on the Fever’s YouTube channel.

The game, which eventually ended in a 91-85 loss, featured an unusual off-shooting night, especially for both of the league’s young superstar guards. Caitlin Clark was held to just 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting for Indiana, while Paige Bueckers scored 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting for Dallas.

However, like Stephanie White pointed out, Arike Ogunbowale did the heavy lifting, leading the Dallas Wings with 32 points. Jessica Shepard was equally influential, particularly in the first half, where she scored 22 of her career-high 26 points to help Dallas build and maintain their advantage. Meanwhile, the only major positive that seemed to come from the Fever’s side of the game was Kelsey Mitchell’s 37 points, which now takes her to a WNBA record of scoring 20 or more points in 21 consecutive games.

Stephanie White did, however, acknowledge that what she saw may not have been purely a tactical or effort problem. While she expressed her disappointment with her team’s performance, she did acknowledge the possibility of it being linked to fatigue.

“I thought there was some fatigue in our shots. When our long shots aren’t falling,” she said. 

The Fever have now played their last three games on the road, and four games in just seven days across four different cities. Their game against the Atlanta Dream also went to overtime, adding further minutes and physical strain to an already compressed schedule. The accumulation of travel, games, and extended playing time is a legitimate variable in a loss like this.

Yet, not everyone has been a fan of how Stephanie White has responded during certain post-game press conferences. On August 9, when the Fever had just started what would become a five-game win streak, Stephanie White’s response after the team’s game with the Chicago Sky raised a lot of eyebrows.

During the game, Sky forward DiJonai Carrington picked up a flagrant foul 2 after making hard contact with Sophie Cunningham while attempting to stop a layup in the first quarter. The contact sent Cunningham to the ground.

However, following the game, White defended Carrington, saying she thought the sky star didn’t intend to hit Cunningham. Hearing her defense, Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith called for her firing on X.

“Ok… The @IndianaFever need to let Stephanie White go. No solid coach would ever take the side of the opposing team’s player who committed a flagrant foul on one of your own players. Terrible coaching! The Fever need to defend their players.”

Meanwhile, with the defeat, Indiana’s five-game winning streak has come to an end. They now sit at 24-13 and will be hoping to bounce back in their next game against the New York Liberty, another road game, with no respite in the schedule just yet.

The post “We Were Sleepwalking”: Stephanie White Sounds Alarm as Fever’s Winning Streak Ends Against Wings Following Firing Call appeared first on EssentiallySports.