Fever news: Stephanie White explains Kelsey Mitchell's absence from 4th quarter vs. Tempo appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Kelsey Mitchell delivered another huge night for the Fever, but she did not stick around to see the finish. Indiana beat the Toronto Tempo 101-95 on Tuesday for its fifth straight win, with Mitchell shooting 11-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three, en route to a game-high 29 points in just 24 minutes.
She scored 16 in the first quarter alone and exploded for eight points in less than a minute late in the third before heading to the locker room and not returning. Head coach Stephanie White explained the decision afterward.
“Seems like she just got overheated,” White said. “This is two games in a row where we played in really, really hot environments.”
Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)
White also praised what made Mitchell’s night so difficult to defend in the first place.
“She just can get a shot at any time. She gets a shot for herself, her gravity creates shots for everybody else,” White said. “It’s nice to know that you can give her the ball and let her go to work. There aren’t a lot of players that can create those kind of shots that she does. It’s just a result of Kelsey’s hard work. She grinds.”
Mitchell’s performance carried real historical weight. She and Caitlin Clark, who added 24 points, both scored 20 or more points for the 16th time this season, setting a new single-season WNBA record for a duo and improving Indiana to 24-12 on the year. Mitchell also extended her own streak to 20 straight games with at least 20 points, matching Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson for the longest such run in league history. This is far from the first WNBA record Mitchell has chased down this season, having also set the league mark for consecutive games with three or more made threes earlier in the year.
Indiana nearly gave back the cushion once Mitchell exited. The Fever had built a 17-point lead, but Toronto’s Marina Mabrey drilled back-to-back threes in the fourth to cut the gap to 97-93 before the Tempo could get no closer. Aliyah Boston chipped in 16 points, helping Indiana continue rolling toward the postseason.
Related: Fever’s Sophie Cunningham appreciates Tempo fans despite getting booed
Related: Fever duo Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell combine for new WNBA scoring record