CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The final buzzer sounded and Allison
Feaster made a beeline for center court. Once there, she did a
celebratory dance in front of her Charlotte Sting teammates.
Feaster scored 17 points to lead Charlotte to a 71-58 victory
over the Indiana Fever on Saturday night and send the Sting into
the All-Star break on a roll.
After starting 1-10, the Sting (8-11) have won seven of eight to
climb into the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
"I think we got to 1-10 and decided we'd had enough," said
Feaster, who made four 3-pointers to tie the club's single-season
record.
"Once we got that attitude we started winning, and once we
started winning we became a lot more confident and started having
some fun."
Feaster, in her first year with the Sting and her first season
as a starter in the WNBA, made 4-of-7 3-pointers to give her 38 on
the season, tying the club mark set last year by Andrea Stinson.
Her final 3-pointer came with just under six minutes to play and
sealed Charlotte's win
After the Sting built a 56-46 lead, the Fever scored six
straight points to cut it to 56-52.
But Clarisse Machanguana hit a layup for the Sting and, after an
Indiana turnover, Feaster hit her fourth 3-pointer to put the Sting
up 61-52.
"A month ago we wouldn't have been able to close them out,"
Feaster said. "We would play tough the whole game then give it
away in the final minutes. Now we can hang on and put teams away."
Charlotte held the Fever to just six free throws over the final
6:35 as new Sting coach Anne Donovan improved to 2-0 against the
team she led last year on an interim basis.
"There was a time this season when everyone in the league
wanted to play Charlotte," Donovan said. "Not anymore. We've
slowly started to dig out of the hole we put ourselves in and
proven we can be in this playoff race."
The Sting head into the All-Star break solidly holding the
fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Stinson added 14 points and Machanguana scored 13 for the Sting.
Dawn Staley, a reserve in Monday night's All-Star Game, had nine
assists and just four points -- all free throws. But they were
enough to give her 2,002 points for her career.
"I am passionate about passing, more so than scoring," said
the 5-foot-6 Staley. "A lot of people aren't into passing, but
when I was too short playing on the playground, I learned to pass
it off and let everyone else score."
Nadine Malcolm had 17 points and was the only player to score in
double figures for Indiana (6-13).
Charlotte, which gave up 21 offensive rebounds in a loss to
Orlando on Thursday night, buckled down against Indiana and held
the Fever to only five offensive boards and 22 total.
"I don't know if we got one loose ball and all the hustle plays
went Charlotte's way," Indiana coach Nell Fortner said.
"Charlotte's defense was very good and we missed shots when we had
opportunities. Maybe it was a lack of focus." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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ALSO SEE
WNBA Scoreboard
Indiana team page
Charlotte team page
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