Indiana

How Fever overcame 5 season-ending injuries to make playoffs: ‘We all we got, we all we need’

Published

3 months ago

September 7, 2025

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How Fever overcame 5 season-ending injuries to make playoffs: ‘We all we got, we all we need’

Caitlin Clark hasn’t played since July 15 after her fourth muscle injury of the year
Point guards Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson suffered season-ending injuries on the same day, Aug. 7
Sophie Cunningham tore her MCL on Aug. 17 and was out for the season

BALTIMORE — When Caitlin Clark got injured, it changed the scope of this Indiana Fever team.

Clark, the 2024 Rookie of the Year and first-team All-WNBA selection, has been the engine that drives the Fever. She smashed multiple league-wide records in her first season, including the WNBA assist record, on the way to leading the Fever to their first postseason appearance in seven years.

She is the Fever’s star, on the court and off. She wills her team to wins and brings in fans from across the world. But she was limited to 13 games this year because of various injuries, including four separate muscle injuries and a bone bruise in her left ankle.

At first, it changed what people thought of the Fever: could they be successful without Clark? Is the season a wash without her?

With or without Clark on the court, the Fever were determined to have a successful season. So, Kelsey Mitchell borrowed a mantra to bring to her team: “We all we got, we all we need.”

“When CC got hurt, I felt like it was deflating,” Mitchell said on Friday night. “It was hard for people to kind of see us and see our energy for what we brought to the table as a team. Hats off to CC for being a great teammate and having to go through so much with injury, but the ‘all we got, all we need’ is a staple to who we trying to be as a team and who we want our culture to be.”

And that mantra only became more relevant as the season went on.

Clark had multiple injuries throughout the season that limited her availability, but the right groin injury that ultimately ended her season came on July 15. A few weeks later, Clark suffered a bone bruise in her left ankle while doing an individual workout on Aug. 7.

That same night, Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson — Indiana’s two backup point guards — suffered season-ending injuries against Phoenix. Ten days after that, Sophie Cunningham tore her MCL and was ruled out for the season. On Aug. 22, Chloe Bibby hurt her knee during pregame warmups and was eventually ruled out for the season too.

It was an unprecedented amount of adversity, having five season-ending injuries over the course of five weeks. But Indiana knew its season wasn’t over. It had to press on.

“I think just being in this locker room, we never doubt ourselves on what we’re capable of, no matter what happens,” Aliyah Boston said Sunday. “I think the entire staff, from the head down, just made great decisions when people went down on who to bring in, the type of people to bring in, and we never doubted ourselves. We never doubted that we could be in the playoffs.”

The Fever had to bring on multiple players on one or two days’ notice. Odyssey Sims joined the Fever on Aug. 10, getting one practice before playing in a game for the first time. Shey Peddy, who joined the team on Aug. 20, had two practices before playing her first game. Aerial Powers signed with the team on Aug. 23, getting just a morning shootaround before checking in for the first time.

All three of those players have become key rotational players for the Fever, and Sims is Indiana’s starting point guard. And that “We all we got, we all we need” mantra became an energizer for the Fever, especially for the players who joined midseason.

“Coming in, the first thing that really made me like, woah, was Kelsey goes during guard shootaround, ‘We all we got, we all we need,’” Powers said. “And right then and there I was like, ‘Yep, I felt it already.’ Coming in and feeling the grit, the grind that the team has, top to bottom, and being able to insert myself, it’s been amazing.”

It showed them, at the base level, how Indiana was never going to give up even in a time of unprecedented hardship. The Fever built their culture to fight, no matter who is or isn’t on the court.

“We can’t help the ones that aren’t here, which is unfortunate, but we can help the ones who are, and be present about that and not disrespect the game,” Mitchell said. “I would like to think that CC, Aari, Syd would want to play and be in our shoes. So I think the ‘We all we got, we all we need’ is a respect thing, but to put it in the air that we all we got and we all we need, because that’s how it is, and that’s how it’s always been.”

That culture, that mantra culminated in a playoff berth for Indiana. The Fever will be no lower than the No. 7 seed in the playoffs, and could move up to six if they beat the Lynx on Tuesday and Golden State loses each of its final two games.

Indiana’s season hasn’t been what anyone expected, from the coaching staff, to the players, to the fans. But it still shows an upward trajectory for the Fever, who have now made the playoffs for two straight seasons after missing it for seven straight from 2017-23.

It’s a change in culture for Indiana, a will to fight even when it seems like all hope is lost. The Fever will bring four players on hardship waivers into the playoffs, but they’re not counting themselves out of anything.

“When you can go through and grow through these types of experiences, it lays a foundation for championship culture and championship mindset,” Fever coach Steph White said. “That’s our ultimate goal, to be able to take it one day at a time, to be able to put ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs, and now a mindset of finishing the regular season and then make a noise in the playoffs.”

Indiana’s playoff opponent hasn’t yet been determined. The Fever have one more regular season game against the Lynx on Tuesday, then will tip off the playoffs on the road on Sept. 14.

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Indiana

Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’

Published

6 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’

Former UConn forward, NBC Sports broadcaster Donny Marshall knows a thing or two about talented UConn guards.

The former Husky played for legendary coach Jim Calhoun and was teammates with the fifth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. Watching UConn play against Butler on Tuesday night, Marshall said he sees a lot of Allen in reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.

Mullins made the second start of his career against the Bulldogs. The former Greenfield-Central star missed UConn’s first six games of the regular season with an injury, but the 6-foot-6 guard is quickly coming into his own and showing why he’s a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Against Butler, Mullins showed off his sweet jump shot, going 2 for 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.

“He’s a scorer,” Butler coach Thad Matta said of Mullins. “He’s got a scorer’s mentality. He gets his shot off quick. They move him around and create some angles for him. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player.”

Mullins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight of his 12 points before halftime. The former five-star recruit was the highest-ranked player in UConn’s 2025 class. Butler’s top-ranked recruit, Azavier “Stink” Robinson isn’t the NBA prospect Mullins is, but he held his own after a shaky start to the game.

Robinson has been thrust into the starting lineup with starter Jalen Jackson out for the season with an ankle injury. Robinson looked out of sorts at times in the first half, going scoreless with two assists and a turnover. In the second half, Matta moved him off the ball, giving him catch-and-shoot looks, and opportunities to drive to the basket without worrying about running the offense.

The former Lawrence North star responded with one of the better halves of his career, scoring 10 points on 3 for 6 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3 to go along with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover.

Facing a veteran team like UConn, nothing comes easy. UConn’s guards harass ball handlers and getting into an offensive set is not easy. This time last year, Robinson was still in high school and, on most nights, the most athletic player on the court. Playing a UConn team where the goal is a national championship, Robinson was forced to grow, and he did not back down from the challenge in the second half.

“He’s coming along,” Matta said of Robinson. “That’s the first Big East road game of his career against maybe the best team in the country. It tells you how tough he is. He’s resilient. He keeps going.”

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Indiana

Indiana's Curt Cignetti becomes the first back-to-back winner of AP coach of the year

Published

18 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Indiana's Curt Cignetti becomes the first back-to-back winner of AP coach of the year

Curt Cignetti has been named The Associated Press coach of the year in college football for the second consecutive season. He is the first coach to win the award back-to-back since it was first presented in 1998. Cignetti has led Indiana to unprecedented success, with a 24-2 record over two seasons. The Hoosiers are 13-0 this year, Big Ten champions for the first time since 1967, and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Cignetti received 47 first-place votes. Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea received two each, and Virginia’s Tony Elliott got one.

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Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS — Some schools in central Indiana are planning to close or delay the start of their classes on Tuesday.

The closures and delays come in the wake of a difficult weekend of severe winter weather in the Hoosier State. On Saturday, a wintry system dumped more than six inches of snow in some portions of the state.

Points north of Indianapolis like Lafayette received between three and four inches of snow. Towns south of the Circle City like Seymour saw similar snowfall totals. As for Indianapolis itself, more than five inches of snow were recorded in some portions of the city.

After Saturday’s snow, frigid temperatures took hold in the area. A Cold Weather Advisory was issued for much of the state as wind chill values dipped well below zero.

The cold and snow triggered a bevy of school closings and delays for Monday. Schools began to announce delays and closures for Tuesday late Monday night as snow removal crews across the state continued to try to keep roadways clear.

Though some schools plan to close or delay the start of classes on Tuesday, temperature improvements are forecasted. High temperatures are anticipated to exceed the 32-degree freezing threshold and hit 36 degrees. The warming trend is expected to continue on both Wednesday and Thursday, with high temperatures forecasted to reach 40 and 50 degrees, respectively.

Precipitation is forecasted for Thursday, though temperatures are expected to remain warm enough for Indiana to get rain instead of snow.

FOX59/CBS4 is tracking the closures and delays schools plan to implement on Tuesday. Check out the latest available list of closings below:

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