Nobody—except Stephanie White—seemed to realize just how fragile the balance of this Indiana Fever squad really was. When the regular season began, they were seen as title contenders. With Caitlin Clark lighting it up on offense, DeWanna Bonner holding it down on defense, and a solid roster to back it all up, everything looked perfectly in place. But remove one piece, Caitlin Clark, and suddenly, the whole structure wobbled. To steady the ship, White made her move, inserting Sydney Colson as the starting point guard and Sophie Cunningham as the secondary ball handler. On paper, a smart adjustment. In reality, though? A dream that did not translate. Two games in, and those rotations haven’t held; The Fever now sits at 2–4, languishing at No. 9 in the standings.
So, what’s really going sideways? What more needs to be done? Well, Head Coach Stephanie White might have the best answer—after all, she’s the mastermind behind every execution.
When the Fever entered Gainbridge Fieldhouse for their matchup, they were actually the favorites to win, especially since Connecticut stood at the bottom of the ranks, struggling to end its five-game losing streak. And as the two teams locked horns, the Fever’s execution only strengthened those assumptions. Just consider how well they moved the ball, logging 20 assists on 29 field goals. That’s a strong indicator of improved chemistry and offensive structure, with contributions coming from Lexie Hull, Aliyah Boston, and DeWanna Bonner. But still, all of that wasn’t enough, as the team suffered yet another loss—this time a narrow 85-83 defeat to the Sun.
While the Fever did perform better in this game compared to their last, their transition defense and costly turnovers late in the game proved fatal. The head coach summed it up best: “The live ball, the unforced ones… there was so much uncertainty… other players are playing with the ball in their hands trying to get us into offense. A part of that is experience and not being in that role before,” she shared in the postgame press conference.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White looks up Tuesday, May 20, 2025, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
No doubt, White has put the Fever under the microscope—and the numbers back her up. The Fever committed 15 turnovers, which directly led to a painful 24 points for Connecticut. That’s an extremely high yield for the opponent, with nearly 30% of their offense coming off Indiana’s mistakes. And it’s not just the quantity—15 turnovers is slightly above Fever’s season average of 14.3—but the quality. Many of them weren’t the result of defensive pressure, but rather miscommunication, poor spacing, and players unfamiliar with initiating offense trying to do too much. And there’s a reason behind that.
“A little bit of hesitancy, coming to the ball, getting away from the ball… we were down another point guard, and lots of different players are playing out of position, so to speak,” White added. With Caitlin Clark out, the Fever’s roster was left scrambling, not just to replace scoring, but also the organizational structure. Take Kelsey Mitchell, for example. Typically more of a scorer than facilitator, she had to step into a lead guard role.
While she did dish out two assists, she also committed three turnovers and shot just 4-of-15 (26.7% from the field), including 0-of-4 from three. And it wasn’t just her. Even Sydney Colson, a veteran guard who played just 8 minutes, was unable to provide the offensive stability the Fever needed early on. Her early departure didn’t help, of course. So, what’s next? Well, the head coach had some clear advice for her team: “We gotta get creative. We gotta figure out who can get us into offense… what actions we can run… we gotta get creative on the offensive end of the floor,” she said.
That wouldn’t usually be such a tough ask, considering the Fever rank No. 3 in the league in points per game. While the team did put forth a more efficient offensive performance against the Sun, shooting 49.2% from the field, it still wasn’t enough to get the win. Why? Their offence was overly reliant on half-court execution and individual talent rather than pace, spacing, and flow. That’s exactly why they lost, even while dominating the paint with 44 points.
Can the Indiana Fever fulfill the demands made by HC Stephanie White?
Just as the Indiana Fever were starting to figure things out without Caitlin Clark, they’ve been dealt yet another blow—this time involving two key backcourt players: Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson. It all happened during their recent matchup against the Connecticut Sun. Colson went down first, after getting tangled up with rookie Jacy Sheldon while chasing a loose ball.
As Sheldon accidentally landed on Colson’s leg, you could tell right away something wasn’t right. And after that, she made her way off the court and into the locker room, and she never returned for the rest of the game. As of now, there has been no official update on her status for upcoming games, but the way she exited suggests her availability might be in question moving forward.
Then, just when the Fever thought things couldn’t get worse, Sophie Cunningham went down, too. With about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, she appeared to roll her right ankle and had to be helped off the floor. Well, these injuries are more than just unfortunate; they could throw a wrench into Head Coach Stephanie White’s entire game plan. “Yeah, we’re going to start Syd at the point tomorrow. We’re going to give that a look,” White had said earlier. “Sophie’s going to get a heavy dose of it as well.” Now, that plan might be out the window.
Losing both guards could mean the Fever are down roughly 7.3 points per game, a gap that’s not easy to fill. Sure, they still have talents like Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell to lean on, but even that’s a bit of a gamble. So, what happens now? Can Indiana keep it together with Clark already out and now possibly missing two more guards?
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