Coach White has a blunt reality check for the Fever.
Fever Coach Stephanie White Delivers Hard Truth After Upset Loss vs. Wings originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Despite missing the services of Caitlin Clark for an 11th straight game due to a lingering groin injury, the Indiana Fever were still considered the heavy favorites heading into Tuesday’s home matchup against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings.
Indiana struggled in this one, though, and did not look the part. Despite a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt, the Fever still fell short, suffering an unexpected 81-80 loss against the Wings.
Fever Coach Stephanie White Rallies the Troops
Indiana head coach Stephanie White spoke to reporters in her postgame press conference. The veteran shot-caller took the opportunity to give her team a blunt reality check after they fell to 18-15 following Tuesday’s defeat.
"I continue to be proud of the grit and toughness and resilience of this group, but our margin for error is small to begin with, and now it's even smaller," she said.
"Everybody's hungry. Dallas came in and they played really well. ... For us, our margin is small, and we've got to make sure our self-inflicted wounds, so to speak, we can't afford those. We've got to be better and more locked in from the jump."
Fever Fall Short Again
It was Dallas that came out of the gates firing in this one, outscoring the home team 23-15 after the first quarter. The Fever had to play catch-up for the rest of the game, and they ultimately came up short.
As White pointed out, the Fever cannot afford to lose these types of games. Dallas improved to 9-24 after Tuesday’s win, but it is still in possession of the third-worst record in the WNBA. This was one of those games that Indiana should have won, and White just had to call it as it is after the tough loss.
The Fever are currently sixth in the WNBA. However, it is worth noting that they are just 2.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Sparks, who are ninth and are in the hunt for one of the eight playoff spots available as the regular season winds down.
Related: Fever Coach Stephanie White Had Strong Words for Sophie Cunningham on Tuesday
Related: WNBA Reacts to Paige Bueckers' Appearance for Wings-Fever Game
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
