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Fever set to get season underway

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)  – The opening game for the 2018 Indiana Fever’s season is on Saturday. 

The team is looking to improve upon their record from last year with the help of three rookies. The Fever went 9-25, finishing dead last in the WNBA Eastern Conference last year. Leaders on the team hope with three top 15 picks now on the roster that young energy will change the feel and outlook of the team. 

The first game of the season is also the start of a stretch of five games in seven days. Learning the playbook quickly will be key, according to head coach Pokey Chatman.

Those three Fever players include: Kelsey Mitchell, the 2nd overall pick from Ohio State, Victoria Vivians the 8th overall pick from Mississippi State and Stephanie Mavunga the 14th overall pick also from Ohio State. According to Chatman and veteran player Candice Dupree, the only goal is to get more wins than nine.  

“High energy, a lot of young legs. So, we have an opportunity to get up and down the court a lot but at the same time a lot of teaching and trying to get them adjusted to this level of the game and  just player personnel for other teams and what kind of schemes they’re running defensively,” said Dupree. 

“Making sure that our players coming from abroad were ready to come in and contribute,” said Chatman. “There’s been a lot of teaching but we’re trying to make them understand that we are going to play 34 games in 94 days. So, we’re not going to be able to spoon feed them so there’s a fine line between spelling everything out for them and figuring it out on their own.” 

Fans have a lot to look forward to this year as well. A new fan section at Bankers Life will feature a slide for the kids as well as other inflatable games. Not to mention if you show up to the game you’ll get to hear our very own Lauren Lowery sing the national anthem. 

For more information on the Fever, click here.