Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Stephanie White Replacement Shares Strong Comments on First Career Win

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 1:51 AM ET

The Indiana Fever were once again without Caitlin Clark on Saturday when they took on Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on the road on Saturday. But they were also without another key member in the organization.

Head coach Stephanie White missed the game due to personal reasons, and assistant Austin Kelly was tapped to be the acting head coach for this game. Things went well for him and his team, as it jumped out to an early lead and kept increasing its advantage en route to a 79-52 win.

Kelly talked about getting his first victory as a head coach after the game.

"Being in that locker room at the end, it means a lot," he said. "It's something I'll never forget. First win. They did a hell of a job for 40 minutes of executing the game plan, and I thought when we had lulls, the communication out there was really good, that they picked each other up when it was needed."

Coach Austin Kelly on how special it was to get his first win as a coach. His son Zayn makes an appearance (and exit) from the post game presser ❤️‍❤️‍❤️‍❤️‍ pic.twitter.com/KRVcB5MzOO
— correlation (@nosyone4) June 8, 2025

Indiana hired Kelly to be an assistant coach in November. He had spent the previous two seasons as an assistant under White on the Connecticut Sun. Before that, he had been an assistant and recruiter at the college level for multiple schools.

He once played a season of college basketball at Georgia Southwestern, and he was even a moderately successful wide receiver with the Duke Blue Devils for four years.

On Saturday, Indiana got the job done with defense. It held the Sky to 32.1% shooting from the field and 20% from 3-point range while forcing 19 turnovers and scoring 23 points off those turnovers. The Sky didn't have a single player who scored in double figures.

Offensively, Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 17 points. New addition Aari McDonald, who was signed following the injuries to Clark and Sophie Cunningham, contributed 12 points off the bench.

As a result, the Fever now have a respectable 4-4 record with Clark nearing a return from her quad ailment.

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

More must-reads: