2002 Indiana Fever season

The 2002 Indiana Fever season was the franchise's 3rd season in the WNBA and their 2nd season under head coach, Nell Fortner. The team, led by Tamika Catchings, went to the playoffs for the first time in team history, losing in the first round to the New York Liberty.

2002 Indiana Fever season
Coach	Nell Fortner
Arena	Conseco Fieldhouse
Attendance	8,434 per game
Results
Record	16–16 (.500)
Place	4th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Lost First Round (2-1) to New York Liberty
← 2001 season 2003 season →

Transactions

WNBA draft

See also: 2002 WNBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	School/Team/Country
1	13	Tawana McDonald	United States	Georgia
2	17	Zuzi Klimešová	Czechoslovakia	Vanderbilt
3	34	Kelly Komara	United States	Purdue
4	49	LaKeisha Taylor	United States	Arizona
4	52	Jillian Danker	United States	Vanderbilt

Transactions

Date	Transaction
March 4, 2002	Traded Gordana Grubin to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Bridget Pettis and a 2002 2nd Round Pick[1]
April 19, 2002	Drafted Tawana McDonald, Zuzi Klimešová, Kelly Komara, LaKeisha Taylor and Jillian Danker in the 2002 WNBA Draft[1]
April 24, 2002	Waived Marlena Williams and Vicki Hall[1]
May 2, 2002	Waived Jillian Danker and LaKeisha Taylor[1]
May 24, 2002	Waived Itoro Coleman and Kelly Komara[1]
July 22, 2002	Traded Rita Williams to the Houston Comets in exchange for Coquese Washington[1]

Roster

2002 Indiana Fever roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs F 24 Catchings, Tamika 6' 1" (1.85m) 167 lb (76kg) 1979-07-21 Tennessee R G 33 Ivey, Niele 5' 7" (1.7m) 149 lb (68kg) 1977-09-24 Notre Dame 1 G 13 Klimešová, Zuzi 6' 2" (1.88m) 1979-01-21 Vanderbilt R F 42 Malcolm, Nadine 6' 1" (1.85m) 170 lb (77kg) 1975-11-27 Providence 1 F 21 Maxwell, Monica 5' 9" (1.75m) 162 lb (73kg) 1976-12-21 Louisiana Tech 3 G 15 McCray, Nikki 5' 11" (1.8m) 158 lb (72kg) 1971-12-17 Tennessee 4 C 6 Moore, Jackie 6' 2" (1.88m) 1979-11-06 Long Beach State R G 32 Pettis, Bridget 5' 9" (1.75m) 150 lb (68kg) 1971-01-01 Florida 5 C 11 Schumacher, Kelly 6' 5" (1.96m) 183 lb (83kg) 1977-10-14 Connecticut 1 C 0 Scott-Richardson, Olympia 6' 2" (1.88m) 175 lb (79kg) 1976-05-05 Stanford 4 F 43 Thompson, Alicia 6' 1" (1.85m) 180 lb (82kg) 1976-06-30 Texas Tech 3 G 4 Washington, Coquese 5' 6" (1.68m) 138 lb (63kg) 1971-01-17 Notre Dame 4 G 23 Williams, Rita 5' 6" (1.68m) 135 lb (61kg) 1976-01-14 Connecticut 4	Head coach Nell Fortner (Texas) Assistant coaches Shelley Patterson Julie Plank Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Schedule

Regular season

2002 game log Total: 16–16 (Home: 10–6; Road: 6–10)
June: 6–8 (Home: 3–2; Road: 3–6) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 June 1 Detroit W 72–69 Tamika Catchings (23) Tamika Catchings (13) Nikki McCray (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 1–0 2 June 2 @ Detroit W 78–65 Tamika Catchings (27) Nikki McCray (7) Tamika Catchings (4) The Palace of Auburn Hills 2–0 3 June 5 Houston L 45–56 Nikki McCray (14) Olympia Scott-Richardson (17) Olympia Scott-Richardson (5) Conseco Fieldhouse 2–1 4 June 7 @ Washington L 68–89 Catchings Scott-Richardson (15) Tamika Catchings (11) Tamika Catchings (7) MCI Center 2–2 5 June 8 New York W 71–62 Tamika Catchings (32) Tamika Catchings (14) Rita Williams (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 3–2 6 June 11 @ Orlando W 75–69 Catchings McCray (20) Olympia Scott-Richardson (8) Tamika Catchings (5) TD Waterhouse Centre 4–2 7 June 13 @ Charlotte L 64–75 Nikki McCray (13) Catchings Malcolm (5) Rita Williams (5) Charlotte Coliseum 4–3 8 June 15 Cleveland L 68–79 Tamika Catchings (23) Olympia Scott-Richardson (8) McCray Williams (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 4–4 9 June 18 @ Utah L 71–79 Tamika Catchings (14) Tamika Catchings (11) Tamika Catchings (5) Delta Center 4–5 10 June 20 @ Portland W 81–72 Nikki McCray (30) Catchings Scott-Richardson (9) Tamika Catchings (5) Rose Garden 5–5 11 June 21 @ Seattle L 51–63 Olympia Scott-Richardson (12) Tamika Catchings (8) Tamika Catchings (7) KeyArena 5–6 12 June 25 @ New York L 55–74 Bridget Pettis (13) Tamika Catchings (8) Tamika Catchings (6) Madison Square Garden 5–7 13 June 28 Sacramento W 67–60 Tamika Catchings (21) Tamika Catchings (12) Scott-Richardson Williams (3) Conseco Fieldhouse 6–7 14 June 30 @ Miami L 59–65 Rita Williams (17) Tamika Catchings (6) Ivey McCray (3) American Airlines Arena 6–8
July : 5–7 (Home: 4–4; Road: 1–3) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 July 3 @ Orlando L 71–79 (OT) Tamika Catchings (24) Olympia Scott-Richardson (9) Nikki McCray (4) TD Waterhouse Centre 6–9 16 July 6 Washington W 50–45 Tamika Catchings (18) Olympia Scott-Richardson (9) McCray Scott-Richardson Williams (2) Conseco Fieldhouse 7–9 17 July 8 Cleveland W 68–57 Tamika Catchings (24) Tamika Catchings (10) Ivey McCray (3) Conseco Fieldhouse 8–9 18 July 10 Utah L 69–82 Olympia Scott-Richardson (31) Catchings Scott-Richardson (9) Olympia Scott-Richardson (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 8–10 19 July 12 Miami L 62–68 Nadine Malcolm (16) Olympia Scott-Richardson (11) Catchings McCray Williams (3) Conseco Fieldhouse 8–11 20 July 17 Los Angeles L 58–73 Tamika Catchings (15) Olympia Scott-Richardson (10) Catchings McCray Williams (4) Conseco Fieldhouse 8–12 21 July 19 New York L 62–70 Tamika Catchings (21) Tamika Catchings (12) Catchings Ivey (3) Conseco Fieldhouse 8–13 22 July 22 Charlotte W 73–72 Catchings McCray (17) Tamika Catchings (9) Tamika Catchings (6) Conseco Fieldhouse 9–13 23 July 26 Minnesota W 73–63 Tamika Catchings (23) Tamika Catchings (5) Tamika Catchings (7) Conseco Fieldhouse 10–13 24 July 28 @ Los Angeles L 62–80 Coquese Washington (14) Tamika Catchings (7) Coquese Washington (8) Staples Center 10–14 25 July 30 @ Sacramento L 65–74 Tamika Catchings (24) Tamika Catchings (11) Tamika Catchings (5) ARCO Arena 10–15 26 July 31 @ Phoenix W 58–56 Tamika Catchings (22) Tamika Catchings (6) Tamika Catchings (6) America West Arena 11–15
August : 5–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 27 August 3 Charlotte W 69–48 Nikki McCray (20) Tamika Catchings (15) Coquese Washington (6) Conseco Fieldhouse 12–15 28 August 6 @ Washington W 64–55 Tamika Catchings (28) Catchings Scott-Richardson (10) McCray Washington (4) MCI Center 13–15 29 August 7 Orlando W 70–63 Tamika Catchings (32) Tamika Catchings (12) Coquese Washington (11) Conseco Fieldhouse 14–15 30 August 9 @ Detroit L 54–55 Tamika Catchings (21) Tamika Catchings (12) Catchings McCray (2) The Palace of Auburn Hills 14–16 31 August 11 Miami W 77–63 Tamika Catchings (20) Catchings Scott-Richardson (7) Tamika Catchings (7) Conseco Fieldhouse 15–16 32 August 13 @ Cleveland W 60–56 Kelly Schumacher (15) Kelly Schumacher (9) Coquese Washington (7) Gund Arena 16–16
2002 season schedule

Playoffs

2002 playoff game log
First round vs. New York Liberty Lost Series: 1–2 Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 August 16 New York W 73–55 Tamika Catchings (29) Olympia Scott-Richardson (14) Nikki McCray (5) Conseco Fieldhouse 1–0 2 August 18 @ New York L 65–84 Tamika Catchings (20) Tamika Catchings (14) Coquese Washington (5) Madison Square Garden 1–1 3 August 20 @ New York L 60–75 Nikki McCray (14) Olympia Scott-Richardson (9) Coquese Washington (7) Madison Square Garden 1–2
2002 playoff schedule

Season standings

Eastern Conference	W	L	PCT	Conf.	GB
New York Liberty x	18	14	.563	11–10	–
Charlotte Sting x	18	14	.563	12–9	–
Washington Mystics x	17	15	.531	12–9	1.0
Indiana Fever x	16	16	.500	12–9	2.0
Orlando Miracle o	16	16	.500	13–8	2.0
Miami Sol o	15	17	.469	11–10	3.0
Cleveland Rockers o	10	22	.312	7–14	8.0
Detroit Shock o	9	23	.281	6–15	9.0

Statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game	RPG	Rebounds per game
APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game	BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage	TO	Turnovers per game
PF	Fouls per game		Team leader		League leader

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tamika Catchings	32	32	36.5	.420	.396	.815	8.6	3.7	2.9	1.3	18.6
Nikki McCray	32	32	33.1	.415	.318	.816	3.0	2.2	0.9	0.1	11.5
Olympia Scott-Richardson	31	31	31.5	.487	.000	.805	6.8	1.7	1.2	0.4	9.4
Coquese Washington	11	8	29.5	.371	.452	.700	3.0	4.4	2.1	0.2	7.3
Rita Williams	20	1	24.2	.289	.254	.735	1.9	2.2	1.1	0.1	6.0
Nadine Malcolm	29	28	20.7	.367	.293	.757	2.1	0.7	0.4	0.1	5.4
Alicia Thompson	18	2	17.4	.358	.241	.706	2.3	0.8	0.4	0.1	5.4
Niele Ivey	31	23	14.2	.352	.380	.810	0.9	1.3	0.5	0.1	2.8
Bridget Pettis	32	0	11.7	.355	.209	.718	1.2	0.5	0.3	0.0	3.5
Kelly Schumacher	31	1	11.4	.506	.000	.692	1.9	0.4	0.2	0.7	3.5
Monica Maxwell	18	0	9.4	.298	.294	1.000	1.7	0.4	0.4	0.2	1.9
Jackie Moore	18	2	7.1	.421	.000	.714	1.6	0.2	0.3	0.1	2.3
Zuzi Klimešová	11	0	3.5	.167	N/A	1.000	0.5	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.5

^‡Waived/Released during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season