INDIANAPOLIS — Tamika Catchings and her Indiana Fever teammates have almost always found a way to win when facing elimination.
Now, the Fever and their star forward find themselves in another must-win game.
Indiana hosts Minnesota on Sunday night in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals. The Lynx hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series.
“It’s almost like crawling, scratching, whatever you have to do to win,” Catchings said of the team’s mentality. “You see the grit and character of this team. We come together at the times we’ve needed to the most. You can see the passion and see we’re playing for each other.”
The Fever are 8-2 in elimination games since the 2012 playoffs, when they beat Minnesota for their lone title. Indiana is 4-0 this season in those games after rallying to beat both Chicago and New York in the opening two rounds of the playoffs after trailing 1-0 in best-of-three series.
The Lynx are the only other team over .500 in elimination games over that span, going 3-2.
Rookie Fever coach Stephanie White has seen her team really grow this season. She had a simple reason for their success with everything on the line.
“Tamika has really found ways to get us going and just has that indomitable spirit, and we feed off her,” she said. “You really don’t have anything to lose — you just go out and play your best.”
While the Fever have had success in those tough moments, they’ve never had to recover from a loss like the one in Game 3. Maya Moore hit a game-winner at the buzzer to lift Minnesota on Friday night.
Still, Catchings isn’t worried.
“It was heartbreaking last night,” Catchings said. “Today after you look at the film and see all the great things we did do, all the things we did well throughout the game, we’re right there.”
Minnesota, seeking its third title, knows that it’s going to be tough close out the series. Especially on Indiana’s homecourt. The first three games have been decided by a total of 15 points.
