The 2019 Indiana Fever season was the franchise's 20th season in the WNBA and their 3rd and final season under head coach, Pokey Chatman. The Fever opened the season on May 24, 2019, against the New York Liberty.
The Fever had a promising start to their season, winning three of their first four games. However, from there they lost eight of their next ten to finish June with a 5–9 record. July proved disastrous for any playoff hopes the team had. Six losses in the month were book-ended by two wins. One bright spot from July was that Erica Wheeler was named WNBA All-Star Game MVP. The Fever's form improved into August where they posted a 4–5 record. Winning their last two games proved too little too late, as they missed out on a playoff spot for the third straight year.
After the season, it was announced that General Manager and Head Coach Pokey Chatman would not return for the 2020 season.
Transactions
WNBA draft
The Fever made three selections in the 2019 WNBA draft, which was held on April 10: Round Pick Player Nationality School/Team/Country 1 3 Teaira McCowan Mississippi State 3 25 Paris Kea North Carolina 3 28 Caliya Robinson Georgia
Trades and roster changes
DateDetails February 1, 2019 Signed F Natalie Achonwa Signed G Shenise Johnson Signed Erica Wheeler February 5, 2019 Signed G/F Betnijah Laney February 18, 2019 Signed F Asia Taylor to Training Camp Contract April 12, 2019 Signed G Crystal Bradford to Training Camp Contract Signed G Bria Gross to Training Camp Contract
Roster
Schedule
Preseason
| 1 | May 14 | @ Chicago Sky | W 69–58 | K. Mitchell (11) | McCowan (8) | K. Mitchell (4) | Wintrust Arena4,033 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 16 | Chicago Sky | W 76–65 | T. Mitchell (15) | Tied (7) | Wheeler (8) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse3,794 | 2–0 |- | 3 | May 19 | @ Dallas Wings | W 71–66 | K. Mitchell (26) | McCowan (6) | Johnson (6) | College Park Center3,428 | 3–0
Regular season
| 1 | May 24 | @ New York Liberty | W 81–80 | T. Mitchell (22) | Dupree (7) | Wheeler (5) | Westchester County Center1,965 | 1–0 |- | 2 | May 28 | @ Connecticut Sun | L 77–88 | Wheeler (26) | Dupree (8) | Wheeler (9) | Mohegan Sun Arena4,781 | 1–1
| 3 | June 1 | New York Liberty | W 92–77 | K. Mitchell (23) | McCowan (6) | Wheeler (6) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse5,003 | 2–1 |- | 4 | June 7 | Dallas Wings | W 79–64 | Achonwa (17) | Tied (11) | Wheeler (9) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse3,671 | 3–1 |- | 5 | June 9 | Phoenix Mercury | L 87–94 | K. Mitchell (26) | Achonwa (7) | K. Mitchell (6) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse3,336 | 3–2 |- | 6 | June 11 | Seattle Storm | L 82–84 | K. Mitchell (21) | Dupree (15) | K. Mitchell (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse3,506 | 3–3 |- | 7 | June 13 | @ Dallas Wings | W 76–72 | Dupree (20) | Laney (11) | T. Mitchell (5) | College Park Center3,562 | 4–3 |- | 8 | June 15 | Chicago Sky | L 64–70 | K. Mitchell (16) | T. Mitchell (8) | Wheeler (8) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse4,715 | 4–4 |- | 9 | June 19 | @ Atlanta Dream | L 78–88 | Dupree (19) | McCowan (14) | Wheeler (5) | State Farm Arena6,474 | 4–5 |- | 10 | June 21 | @ Chicago Sky | W 76–69 | Wheeler (28) | McCowan (13) | Wheeler (8) | Wintrust Arena4,945 | 5–5 |- | 11 | June 23 | @ Seattle Storm | L 61–65 | Wheeler (18) | McCowan (13) | Wheeler (4) | Alaska Airlines Arena7,211 | 5–6 |- | 12 | June 25 | Minnesota Lynx | L 74–78 | K. Mitchell (17) | 3 tied (7) | Wheeler (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse4,692 | 5–7 |- | 13 | June 28 | @ Phoenix Mercury | L 69–91 | Dupree (15) | McCowan (10) | Wheeler (3) | Talking Stick Resort Arena9,435 | 5–8 |- | 14 | June 29 | @ Las Vegas Aces | L 97–102 (OT) | K. Mitchell (21) | Achonwa (9) | Wheeler (8) | Mandalay Bay Events Center4,581 | 5–9
| 15 | July 5 | @ Dallas Wings | W 76–58 | T. Mitchell (16) | McCowan (12) | Wheeler (7) | College Park Center5,093 | 6–9 |- | 16 | July 10 | Las Vegas Aces | L 71–74 | Dupree (13) | McCowan (12) | Wheeler (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse9,247 | 6–10 |- | 17 | July 12 | Los Angeles Sparks | L 84–90 | Tied (11) | 3 tied (5) | K. Mitchell (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse7,849 | 6–11 |- | 18 | July 14 | Connecticut Sun | L 63–76 | K. Mitchell (14) | McCowan (8) | Tied (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,434 | 6–12 |- | 19 | July 19 | Washington Mystics | L 88–95 (OT) | Wheeler (18) | Achonwa (12) | Wheeler (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,726 | 6–13 |- | 20 | July 21 | @ Chicago Sky | L 70–78 | Wheeler (13) | McCowan (16) | Wheeler (9) | Wintrust Arena6,614 | 6–14 |- | 21 | July 23 | @ Phoenix Mercury | L 77–95 | Wheeler (18) | McCowan (9) | Wheeler (9) | Talking Stick Resort Arena8,528 | 6–15 |- | 22 | July 31 | Atlanta Dream | W 61–59 | Wheeler (15) | McCowan (14) | K. Mitchell (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse5,702 | 7–15
| 23 | August 3 | Minnesota Lynx | W 86–75 | K. Mitchell (20) | McCowan (8) | K. Mitchell (9) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse7,884 | 8–15 |- | 24 | August 8 | @ Washington Mystics | L 78–91 | K. Mitchell (18) | Mavunga (6) | K. Mitchell (6) | St. Elizabeth's East Arena3,013 | 8–16 |- | 25 | August 10 | Atlanta Dream | W 87–82 | Wheeler (19) | Dupree (9) | Wheeler (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse7,923 | 9–16 |- | 26 | August 18 | @ Washington Mystics | L 68–107 | T. Mitchell (17) | McCowan (10) | Achonwa (5) | St. Elizabeth's East Arena4,034 | 9–17 |- | 27 | August 20 | New York Liberty | L 76–82 | McCowan (24) | McCowan (8) | Tied (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse5,340 | 9–18 |- | 28 | August 22 | @ Los Angeles Sparks | L 65–98 | K. Mitchell (14) | McCowan (7) | Wheeler (6) | Staples Center8,816 | 9–19 |- | 29 | August 25 | @ Seattle Storm | W 63–54 | McCowan (22) | McCowan (19) | Tied (3) | Alaska Airlines Arena8,076 | 10–19 |- | 30 | August 27 | Las Vegas Aces | W 86–71 | McCowan (24) | McCowan (17) | 4 tied (4) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse6,958 | 11–19 |- | 31 | August 29 | Los Angeles Sparks | L 83–87 | McCowan (24) | McCowan (10) | K. Mitchell (5) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse5,641 | 11–20
| 32 | September 1 | @ Minnesota Lynx | L 73–81 | Dupree (18) | McCowan (11) | T. Mitchell (6) | Target Center8,833 | 11–21 |- | 33 | September 6 | @ New York Liberty | W 86–81 | K. Mitchell (22) | McCowan (13) | Wheeler (6) | Westchester County Center2,301 | 12–21 |- | 34 | September 8 | Connecticut Sun | W 104–76 | K. Mitchell (38) | McCowan (9) | Laney (7) | Bankers Life Fieldhouse5,451 | 13–21
Standings
Awards and honors Recipient Award Date awarded Ref. Candice Dupree WNBA All-Star SelectionJuly 15, 2019 Erica Wheeler Teaira McCowan WNBA All-Rookie Team September 16, 2019
Statistics
Regular season
Source:
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Kelsey Mitchell 34 20 25.1 38.7 37.4 83.6 1.6 2.6 0.4 0.1 13.6 Candice Dupree 34 34 30.7 47.2 0 83.9 5.0 2.5 0.4 0.6 11.6 Erica Wheeler 34 34 25.0 42.8 38.4 87.2 3.0 5.0 1.2 0.1 10.1 Teaira McCowan 34 16 22.1 51.7 0 68.7 9.0 0.2 0.6 1.3 10.0 Tiffany Mitchell 33 14 25.2 38.1 29.0 89.2 2.8 2.2 0.6 0.1 9.7 Natalie Achonwa 30 18 21.1 48.8 25.0 90.9 5.2 1.6 0.6 0.7 8.7 Betnijah Laney 34 27 25.8 36.2 30.3 58.1 4.2 1.7 1.4 0.1 5.6 Shenise Johnson 17 0 12.9 33.3 24.2 93.8 2.1 1.1 0.7 0.1 12.9 Kennedy Burke 31 7 13.6 38.5 35.0 70.5 1.5 0.7 0.6 0.3 4.4 Paris Kea 11 0 5.5 40.7 55.6 50.0 0.5 0.5 0.1 0.2 2.6 Stephanie Mavunga 24 0 8.5 51.1 0 70.6 2.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 2.5 Erica McCall 15 0 6.9 13.6 0 100 1.8 0.4 0.1 0.4 0.9
References
External links The Official Site of the Indiana Fever