Fever Coach Stephanie White Assigns Blame After Loss to Sparks

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paolo Songco | Last updated Aug 6, 2025 2:35 AM ET

The Indiana Fever came crashing back down to earth on Tuesday night following their disappointing 100-91 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Fever had a lot of momentum entering this matchup, only to see their five-game winning streak come to an end against a Sparks team that they have failed to beat in three tries this season.

Fever Coach Stephanie White Reacts to Loss

Indiana head coach Stephanie White was not in a jovial mood during her postgame press conference . The veteran shot-caller was able to see some positives from the loss — including Kelsey Mitchell’s 34-point explosion on seven triples — but White just had to assign blame for the tough defeat.

"I felt like we got good shots," White said. "Sometimes they don't fall. ... Oftentimes we can get people going in transition. We couldn't do it because we couldn't get stops. You can't get out on transition when you're consistently taking the ball in the net.

"For us, we felt like we had enough, offensively. But we didn't get it done on the defensive end of the floor. ... We got to get better on the defensive end of the floor."

Fever Had No Answer for Sparks

The Sparks shot 56.1% collectively on Tuesday night, which explains why White just had to call out her team’s defensive shortcomings on the evening.

Four L.A. starters scored at least 16 points, with Rickea Jackson (25 points, five rebounds) and Kelsey Plum (25 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 11 assists) leading the charge. Azura Stevens (19 points on 7-of-8 from the floor) and Dearica Hamby (16 points, seven rebounds) also chipped in.

Apart from their problems on defense, Indiana’s bench also struggled badly in this one. The bench combined for just two points on 1-of-11 shooting, which is simply unacceptable, especially against a team like the Sparks, who have now won eight out of their last 10 games.

Fever Remain Fifth in WNBA

This loss saw Indiana fall to 17-13 on the season. They currently remain fifth in the league, and are now 1.5 games behind the Phoenix Mercury, who won on Tuesday, for the No. 4 spot in the WNBA.

A top-four finish will secure home-court advantage for the Fever in the first round of the playoffs, and this is an attainable goal they will go and set out for.

They will be back in action on Thursday in the fourth and final game of their current road trip. Indiana will battle the Mercury at PHX Arena on Tuesday in a matchup that will have postseason implications.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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