INDIANA FEVER 92, CHARLOTTE STING 85 (OT)

The Sting put up quite a fight on Sunday night at Conseco Fieldhouse as they battled to pick up their first road win of the season. Coming into a hostile environment with only nine players available, Charlotte nearly pulled out the win, as they took the Indiana Fever into overtime.

In the end the Sting could not overcome two outstanding performances from Fever forwards Tamika Catchings and Tamika Whitmore as the duo combined to score 56 points in the Fever's 92-85 victory.

With Tammy Sutton-Brown (right knee bruise) and Helen Darling (right hamstring strain) both missing their second consecutive game, Charlotte relied heavily on a total team effort to keep pace with the Fever in the early going.

After allowing Indiana to jump out to an early 17-8 lead and maintain a seven-point advantage through the end of the first 10 minutes of play, the Sting started the second quarter on fire opening the stanza on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 22.

Charlotte's hot shooting in the second quarter (66.7 percent), allowed the Sting to continue to stay in the game and trail by just three as the two teams headed into the locker rooms at the break.

As the third quarter got underway it was looking as though the Sting's recent struggles would continue to haunt them as the Fever quickly extended their lead to eight. Charlotte however weathered the storm, and fought back finishing the quarter on a 16-6 run to take a two-point lead at the end of three.

The Sting attack continued in the fourth as they opened the period on a 9-1 run to build a 10-point advantage. It was then that Whitmore and Catchings took over as the two forwards posted 14 points during an 18-6 Fever run to give Indiana back the lead with 1:55 remaining.

The two teams traded baskets before Catchings hit a turnaround jump shot with 27.6 seconds left to give the Fever an 80-78 lead. Tangela Smith, answered with a turnaround of her own, tying the game at 80 and forcing the first overtime period for the Sting this season.

In overtime, the Fever connected on three of four field goals and went six of six from the free throw line to outscore the Sting 12-5 in the final five minutes. The loss drops the Sting to 2-7 while the Fever improve to 8-4.

Smith tallied 18 points, with 12 coming in the second half and overtime, to lead Charlotte while Sheri Sam and Kelly Mazzante added 14 and 13 respectively.

Whitmore finished with a career-high 29 points while Catchings posted a double-double (27 points and 13 rebounds) for the Fever.

The Sting now return home to host the Connecticut Sun at Charlotte Bobcats Arena on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

HEAD COACH MUGGSY BOGUES SAYS... (On losing ten point lead) I think we got a little complacent and we started playing not to lose instead of continuing to play to win. We kind of lost our aggressiveness after they came down and hit a couple of three pointers in a row. We can’t allow mental mistakes to take away our focus. We just didn’t stay focused for the full forty minutes. They just kind of out- manned us down the stretch and there was no excuse the way we ended. (On bench play) I thought being short on the bench our players stepped up, especially Tye’sha (Fluker). And I thought Kelly (Mazzante) gave us some good minutes. I really think our short bench gave our starters some really good minutes, but we just couldn’t carry it through to the end. INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM Forward Tangela Smith (19 points, 8 rebounds) (On end of regulation) We went on our run and then they went on their run. Luckily, we were able to get it tied up to go into overtime. Both Tamikas (Catchings & Whitmore) were tough tonight and very physical. The entire game was very physical. It was a very disappointing loss. (What they need to do to turn their season around?) We need to come out and play better in the second half. We seem to lose it in the third and fourth quarters because we play to lackadaisical. Tonight, we came out much better in the second half. We just need to continue to do that. Forward Sheri Sam (14 points, 5 rebounds) (On end of regulation) We just didn’t finish. We played tentatively and tried to force too many plays. The Fever forced all the action and we able to regain the momentum. We have to be able to finish out teams when we have a lead. (What they need to do to turn their season around?)We have to be able to close teams out when we have leads. We have to play hard like we did tonight and take care of the little things, like not giving up rebounds and not giving up three point plays like we did on a couple of occasions.

June 18, 2006 Team 1 2 3 4 OT TOT CHA 13 26 20 21 5 85 IND 20 22 15 23 12 92 STAR OF THE GAME TANGELA SMITH 18 points 8 rebounds 8-14 FGs SUB OF THE GAME KELLY MAZZANTE 13 points 3 rebounds 3 assists STAT OF THE GAME POINTS IN THE PAINT Charlotte- 26 Indiana- 44 HUSTLE BOARD Team REB STL BLK TOT CHA 30 9 2 41 IND 42 7 8 57