INDIANAPOLIS — Stephanie White needed her group to be desperate. There is a difference between desperate and reckless, she noted, but that was not something the coach had to explain to her players. They knew. This roster has become increasingly familiar with that distinction over the last six weeks—playing desperate enough to keep going after one brutal injury, another, two more, desperate enough to claw their way back to a playoff spot, desperate enough to win two straight games while facing elimination in the first round. No team has needed to understand desperation this year as well as the Fever. They would need to harness that just a bit more to get through Sunday.
And they found just enough. The Fever beat the No. 2 seed Aces, 90–83, to force a winner-take-all Game 5 in the WNBA semifinals. More competitive in transition, on the glass, and diving on the floor, they managed to hold a narrow lead for nearly the entire second half.
“We were the aggressor,” White said afterwards. “And usually, when we’re aggressive and we move the ball, good things happen for us. So we attacked, we played with a sense of urgency, we made the right reads.”
The result was a showcase of hustle plays. (If ever a game was set up to display the virtues of the Fever’s ultimate role player, Lexie Hull, this was it.) Indiana had 11 steals and forced 17 turnovers. Both figures were the highest of the playoffs for the Fever. They had their highest rebound percentage of the postseason, too, outrebounding Las Vegas by a margin of 34 to 22. Indiana could not stop Aces MVP A’ja Wilson, who followed a rocky offensive performance in Game 3 by dropping 31 points in Game 4. But it could eke out every last opportunity for advantage elsewhere on the floor. That was ultimately enough.
Indiana’s plucky showing was anchored by a standout afternoon from center Aliyah Boston, who finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and five assists. After being effective defensively but somewhat limited offensively in the first three games of this series, Boston imposed her will in Game 4 to dominate in the paint. And her performance was accompanied by strong enough guard play to seal the win for Indiana.
The Fever have struggled to get consistent production from their point guards this series. But it can feel pointless to criticize it too pointedly: Both of them arrived here only in the last two months. After season-ending injuries to Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson, Aari McDonald and Sophie Cunningham—yes, really, all of them—Indiana signed Odyssey Sims and Shey Peddy to a series of temporary hardship contracts before getting them locked on the roster for the playoffs. Both are veteran journeywomen, accustomed to bouncing from one squad to another, well-versed in learning a new system on the fly. Still, this situation had proven especially tricky, and with especially high stakes. But the pair did what they had to on Sunday.
Sims had 18 points. Peddy came off the bench to add seven with two key steals. That joint effort bolstered an offensive attack led, as ever, by shooting guard Kelsey Mitchell.
Mitchell is the longest tenured member of this roster, and the longest suffering, too. The franchise has redefined itself several times over in her eight seasons here. She takes more shots than anyone on this roster—than nearly anyone in the league—and it can feel as if the Fever live and die by Mitchell.
“She’s always in attack mode,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said of Mitchell before tipoff on Sunday. “I love that about her game. It’s flat-out her speed a lot of the time, and her brakes—she’s got a set of Ferrari brakes.”
Take another look at Kelsey Mitchell's bucket! https://t.co/wLWtPsObln pic.twitter.com/MHbb1ULqJ9
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 28, 2025
That speed makes Mitchell well-suited to playing a little bit desperate. She made that work for her on Sunday. Mitchell led the Fever in scoring with 25 points. And it felt apt that in the last home game of this series, potentially the last home game of this season, it was she who delivered some of the most cathartic moments. It was Mitchell who pulled up to hit a jumper with a minute to play; Mitchell who hit the deck in triumphant exhaustion as she drew a foul with the crowd erupting; Mitchell who strode to the line for her free throws as Gainbridge Fieldhouse chanted “MVP.”
“It’s just an extreme amount of pride for her,” White said. “She’s been through a lot with this franchise … pride in her work and how much work she has put in to position herself to be in this moment.”
Mitchell has given herself and her teammates one more chance for some more of those moments. They will have to play a little desperate. But that’s just fine. It works for them.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fever Are Used to Playing Desperate and It Shows.
