She's not letting up.
"Ride and Die": Kelsey Mitchell Sends Defiant Message After Fever's 12th Loss of the Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Kelsey Mitchell picked up right where she left off before the WNBA All-Star break. The 5-foot-8 guard kept her foot on the gas in the Indiana Fever’s first game back following the brief mid-season hiatus, dropping a game-high 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting in Tuesday’s disappointing 98-84 road loss to the New York Liberty.
Mitchell’s strong effort still wasn’t enough to lead Indiana to victory against the defending champions as the Fever missed the services of cornerstone superstar Caitlin Clark for a second consecutive game due to a groin injury.
Tuesday’s loss saw Indiana fall to 12-12 on the season and slip to the No. 7 spot in the league — just half a game ahead of the Washington Mystics, who currently occupy the eighth and final playoff spot in the WNBA.
Despite her team’s recent struggles, Mitchell’s belief in the Fever remains steadfast. In fact, the three-time All-Star is adamant that this team is still fully capable of competing for a championship this season.
"Well, if anybody else been believing this, I do," Mitchell told reporters during her postgame press conference on Tuesday. "I think that we [are] a contender. I'm going to ride and die with the 11 or 12 that we have.
"And I think when it comes to being a contender, we got to keep playing the best. You don't know what none of this is like until you play the best, and New York is one of the best. And so they hold the standard, and if you want to keep being in the contender conversation, that's where we got to be, like where they are.
"And I think for us, we got to keep using these experiences to keep getting better."
The season is heading into the final stretch, with the Fever scheduled for 20 more games before the playoffs start in September. Mitchell, who is leading her team in scoring with 19.5 points per game on 46.8% shooting, isn’t denying the fact that Indiana has had its struggles this year. However, she is confident that this squad is built to challenge for this year’s title.
"I think if anybody got a chance to be a contender and sneak and win games, it's the Fever," she said. "And so I'm going to keep believing that."
Related: Sophie Cunningham Turns Heads With Her Outfit for Fever-Liberty Game
Related: Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese Rematch in Doubt After Concerning Injury Update
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
