As the 2026 WNBA season enters the last quarter, the Indiana Fever are riding a five-game win streak and lead the league in points per game with 96.4. However, a deeper look reveals that a daring call by head coach Stephanie White to put second-year player Makayla Timpson in the starting lineup of the team with the best offensive rating in the WNBA has paid off. Analyst Robin Lundberg has praised the Fever head coach for it, following Indiana’s win over Toronto on Tuesday.

“8 points and 7 boards from Makayla Timpson, just continues to impress. Since they’ve moved her into the starting lineup, they’ve been a different team. That’s now five wins in a row for the Fever,” Lundberg said in the analysis video on his YouTube channel.

In the win over the Toronto Tempo, Timpson recorded 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals while shooting 100% from the field. The game against the Tempo was just the 6th time Timpson started a game in her career, and all her starts have come in this season alone. This was also her 5th straight game where she was part of the starting lineup, and the Indiana Fever have won all five, matching their previous season-high win streak. 

However, White’s decision to replace Monique Billings with Timpson in the starting lineup came after a lot of consideration. After all, Billings was no scrub either, and the Fever achieved a lot of success with her. White’s decision came after the clash against the Minnesota Lynx.

During the Indiana Fever’s 108-100 loss to the Lynx in the opening week of August, White turned to Timpson for defensive assignment, rather than Billings and Myisha Hines-Allen.

Makayla Timpson didn’t disappoint. She recorded a steal and two blocks in the closing minutes of the game. In the last five games, Timpson has averaged 9.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks as a starter.

This is above her 2026 WNBA season average that sits at 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds. Moving Timpson to a starter role was intentional, and Stephanie White did it for a single purpose.

Stephanie White reveals reasoning behind inserting Makayla Timpson in starting lineup

For the Indiana Fever coach, Timpson provided her team with “defensive versatility at that post position.”

The Indiana Fever’s starting lineup already features three of the best players in the game. Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston all can score at will and have led the Fever to the top of the league’s offense. Beyond the Fever’s big three, the two remaining spots can only accommodate two players.

White went with Lexie Hull and Timpson because she also needs defensive-minded players alongside the group of scoring elites. Good defense renders great offense, and both Hull and Timpson give the Indiana Fever exactly what they need on the other side.

“She’s been playing really well. She gives us a different look on the defensive end because of her versatility,” White said when asked about the decision to start Timpson against Chicago.

“I like the combination with her and AB. We just liked what it was going to give us from a numbers standpoint, a combination standpoint, and a substitution pattern standpoint.”

Timpson’s reach and her verticality give her an edge over her opponents in the paint. Moreover, the former Florida State forward is also athletic enough to extend her defense from the interior to the perimeter.

She doesn’t have a strong outside game, but that doesn’t limit the Fever’s offense, led by their trio. Timpson fits right into White’s balanced lineup.

“She doesn’t try to play outside of herself,” White praised her forward’s game mentality after Saturday’s win over the Atlanta Dream. Timpson scored a career-high 20 points in the overtime win.

So far, the Indiana Fever have been riding high with Timpson as their starter. But more importantly, White now has two elite forwards (Timpson & Billings) to go with. Billings provides an additional scoring option for the Fever.

Indiana has won 10 of their 12 games with two different five-game winning streaks. Their two losses in the midst have come against the Minnesota Lynx and the Las Vegas Aces, two of the best teams in the league.

If they can continue their run in the closing quarter, they can become a serious threat to the Lynx and the defending champions, the Aces.