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Indianapolis Star
August 14, 2011
Fever’s Catchings ties career high in win over
Liberty
By David Woods
Tamika Catchings not only plays basketball with intensity. She
watches that way, too.
In recent days, the Indiana Fever forward paid attention to
workouts by her nephew, college player DeMarcus Catchings of
Montevallo (Ala.). She saw Pacers guard George Hill score 50
points in an Indy Pro-Am Summer League game, too.
"He makes it look so simple," Catchings said of Hill. "Since
watching that, for me it's been, 'OK, slow down, let the floor open
a little bit more, and see what you can do. And it's worked."
She regularly works over the New York Liberty.
Catchings tied a career high of 32 points -- and reached the 5,000
plateau in her 10-year career -- in leading the Fever past the
Liberty 82-71 Saturday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Announced attendance on breast health awareness night was 9,237,
second-highest of the season.
Tamika Catchings gets past Nicole Powell to score in the first quarter.
Catchings scored 32 on Saturday for the fourth time. Three of those games
have been against New York. / Rob Goebel / The Star
The Fever (17-7) raised their home record to 11-2 and stayed 11/2
games ahead of second-place Connecticut (15-8) in the Eastern
Conference.
It was the fourth 32-point game by Catchings, and first since 2003.
Five of her nine games scoring 30 or more have come against New
York, and three of her 32-point games.
The numbers will renew interest in her annual Most Valuable
Player candidacy. She has never been MVP, nor won a WNBA
championship.
"There's no doubt in my mind she's got all the credentials to be a
WNBA MVP," Fever coach Lin Dunn said. "And she certainly
deserves a ring."
Catchings was 7-of-12 from the field and set franchise records for
free throws made (17) and attempted (19). The franchise record for
points is 34 by Katie Douglas against Washington on July 28,
2009.
Catchings' jump shot with 3:17 left in the first quarter made her the
sixth player in league history with 5,000 points. She became the
first with 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists.
And the only one of the six 5,000-point scorers without a WNBA
title, Catchings quickly noted.
"This is a great year for us, and we're having a great season," she
said. "We just need to keep building off the things that we're doing
really well."
Oddly, Catchings had zero rebounds. The only other time that
happened was in a loss to Minnesota on June 7, 2009.
Catchings scored 22 points in the final 21 minutes, and for five of
those minutes she was on the bench.
"She was definitely in the zone," Douglas said. "Any time you see
a player like that, you want to just feed her the ball and let her
make plays."
The Liberty (13-11), playing their third game in five nights, fell
four games behind the Fever. Cappie Pondexter scored 30 points
for New York but committed eight turnovers.
Fever flaws were 17 turnovers that led to 21 Liberty points, and an
inability to pass the ball inside. Jessica Davenport (11.9 ppg) has
scored six, three and seven points over the past three games.
That's nitpicking a team that has won seven of eight. The Fever's
past seven home wins have come by 17, 11, 12, 14, 35, 13 and 11
points. (They also lost to Minnesota at home 80-70 during that
stretch.)
The Fever outscored the Liberty 22-2 in a five-minute stretch
bridging the second and third quarters to increase their lead to 54-
34.
"We're picking up momentum," Catchings said. "Every single
game, every single practice."