The Indiana Fever were the worst team in the WNBA last year by a landslide.
That shouldn’t be the case this year with heralded rookie Aliyah Boston joining a roster already well-stocked with young talent. Boston and her new teammates start the season at home in Indianapolis on Friday night against the Connecticut Sun.
Boston led South Carolina to the 2022 NCAA championship and the 2023 Final Four before a loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa in one national semifinal. The 6-foot-5 forward joins 6-4 NaLyssa Smith, who averaged 13.5 points and 7.9 rebounds last year as an Indiana rookie, in what figures to be one of the league’s best frontcourts for a long time.
“She’s such an incredible piece for us,” said first-year Indiana coach Christie Sides. “Aliyah is ready. She’s such a pro already.”
Add veteran guard Erica Wheeler and proven scorer Kelsey Mitchell, who pumped in 18.4 points per game last year, and the Fever won’t be the 5-31 pushover they were last year. If the ball bounces their way a few times, a playoff spot wouldn’t be impossible.
Meanwhile, Connecticut has retooled its roster a bit after losing in the WNBA Finals to Las Vegas. Jonquel Jones is gone to one of the league’s new “super” teams in New York, but the Sun still figure to contend with a nucleus of DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas and 11th-year WNBA vet Tiffany Hayes.
Connecticut also has a new coach after Curt Miller left to take over the Los Angeles Sparks. Stephanie White is running the Sun, and her first emphasis has been defense.
“Our first practice, they even got us into a huddle and were saying, this is our expectation that we need to be elite defensively,” guard Rebecca Allen said. “We need to make our presence known defensively. If you come in here, you can’t be soft.”
Connecticut swept all four meetings between the teams last season.
–Field Level Media
