Fever Coach Stephanie White Issues Direct Response on WNBA Physicality

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Rowan Fisher-Shotton | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 4:18 PM ET

The Indiana Fever (6-6) faced off against the Las Vegas Aces (5-7) on Sunday in what many expected to be a physical battle between East and West contenders.

Through 12 games, Indiana sits third in the Eastern Conference with a .500 record, claiming key wins over the Chicago Sky (twice), Atlanta Dream and New York Liberty, but has also struggled on the road, dropping three of its five away tilts.

As the league’s pace intensifies midway through the season, Fever head coach Stephanie White used the team’s latest media session to talk about the current state of the WNBA.

When asked about the league's physicality, White said, "As a coach and as a player, you're going to play as physical as you're allowed to play. That's the reality of competition, right?... I mean, you can go all the way back to the Bill Laimbeer days. It's like teams are going to be as physical as they're allowed to be. And we want to be more physical on the defensive end of the floor, but physical without fouling."

Stephanie White speaks about physicality of the WNBA pic.twitter.com/y9D9MYzWdm
— Moreau Sports Media Prod Co. (@MoreauSportsCo) June 22, 2025

A high-school All-American and the 1995 Gatorade National Player of the Year, White led Purdue University to the 1999 NCAA women’s national championship, earning the prestigious Wade Trophy as the nation’s top collegiate player that same year.

White’s professional playing career spanned five seasons, one with the Charlotte Sting and four with the Fever, before she transitioned into coaching.

Her post-playing resume includes assistant stints at Ball State, Kansas State, Toledo and the Chicago Sky, followed by her first head-coaching role in Indiana in 2015.

In her inaugural season as Fever head coach, White guided the team to a 20-14 record and a berth in the 2015 WNBA Finals.

After a tenure at Vanderbilt University (2016-2021) and head-coaching the Connecticut Sun (2023-2024), White returned to Indiana’s bench this past November.

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

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