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INDIANAPOLIS -- Alicia Thompson scored 18 points to lead the Indiana Fever to an 87-75 victory Friday night over the Cleveland Rockers.
| | Monica Maxwell, left, and Chantel Tremitiere celebrate the biggest win in the brief Fever history. |
Cleveland (16-13), which already clinched a playoff berth, fell
three games behind Eastern Conference leader New York (19-10) with
only three games to play and saw its conference title hopes severely curtailed.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Indiana (8-21)
and kept the Fever out of the Eastern Conference cellar, as
Charlotte (7-22) lost to Miami.
Stephanie McCarty scored 16 points for Indiana and Kara Wolters
added 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Rita Williams scored 10
points and dished out seven assists.
"This was a complete 40-minute game," Fever coach Anne Donovan said. "We played well in the end. Not too many expansion teams will have six people in double digits as we did tonight."
Merlakia Jones had 10 points and seven rebounds for Cleveland,
and Chastity Melvin scored 10 points.
Indiana, which leads the WNBA in three-point percentage, hit nine
of 18 from beyond the arc.
"Cleveland had just clinched a playoff spot (Thursday) night," Wolters said. "They've come in taking us lightly and as if it's a day off and we want to prove to them it's not a day off."
Cleveland used a 19-6 run early in the second half to take a
three-point lead, but the Fever responded with a 17-5 spurt over a
four-minute span for a 78-65 margin with 4:08 to play.
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
RECAPS
Miami 60 Charlotte 50
Washington 96 Detroit 72
Indiana 87 Cleveland 75
Sacramento 74 Minnesota 63
New York 70 Orlando 57
Houston 81 Portland 56
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