“I think that Indiana is even more dangerous when Caitlin Clark doesn’t play.” When ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck dropped the heavy statement on live television, little did she know what was to come next. Instead of riding the victory wave, the Indiana Fever crashed to a painful 89-87 loss against the Los Angeles Sparks. While this shocker comes as Caitlin Clark continued to watch from the bench, the locker room’s focus shifted to head coach Stephanie White.

White has seen the locker room weather storms this season. She has traversed through a difficult season with Clark being injured twice. So, when a reporter asked, “Talked about needing to lock in despite fatigue or tiredness and I know it’s been like nine games, I believe 18 days. Just how have you seen your players work through that stretch?” White had her answers ready.

“If our activity level is a little bit better and we’re anticipating when the ball moves and what action they’re going to get into, it gives us a little bit of margin for error for that step that we might be slow,” White said in a post-game interview. “So, we have to combat if there’s some physical tiredness. We have to combat that with mental sharpness. And that’s a skill that you have to practice, right.” The HC focused on mental fitness of the athletes, especially since they are running on a strict schedule.

And the biggest roadblock in back-to-back games is fatigue. They can not only hamper sleep schedule and practice sessions, but also actual on-court performances. And maybe this is exactly what happened with the Fever’s roster recently. While the team had a dominant start against the LA Sparks, they seemed tired by the third quarter.

But despite being on the road for 5 out of 9 games with a span of 18 days, head coach White is proud of the locker room. She praised the Fever athletes amidst the tight-packed schedule. “This is a group that’s pretty locked in, in terms of their energy, their effort, understanding what we’re trying to do,” White said in the interview. While the Fever have been on a positive run of late, some familiar shortcomings caused the loss against Sparks.

HC Stephanie White praised LA Sparks

“I felt like LA moved the ball too easily,” Stephanie White said post-game. Highlighting her own team’s inconsistencies, White focused on the power-packed gameplay by Rickea Jackson and Azura Stevens on the hardwood. Stevens had 21 points and 12 rebounds while Jackson added 15 points and two rebounds.

“I thought they did a great job of exploiting matchups,” White said. “Really working especially with Stevens and Jackson when they had smaller players on them, making sure that their passes were on time on target, recognizing it early.” While she praised the Sparks’ smart roster rotation, she also continued to lament her own team’s mistakes.

While the Sparks had an exceptional ball possession and passing strategies in place, the Fever amassed 10 turnovers. “We did not do a good enough job of getting them out of there as quickly as we’d like to,” White remarked.

The team had enough chances to score but unfortunately, the absence of Clark loomed heavy on the roster as they slipped to another loss. As Indiana Fever prepares to face the Golden State Valkyries, can HC Stephanie White chose to bring back Caitlin Clark? Can the White-Clark duo propel the team to another victory? Or will we watch HC Natalie Nakase and her strong, international team snatch the victory from Indiana Fever’s belt again? That remains to be seen.