Indiana Fever gets first win of the season
Kelsey Mitchell’s 35th career game finishing with at least 20 points was enough for the Indiana Fever to secure its first win of the 2022 campaign, 82-76, against the Minnesota Lynx at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday. Despite being held scoreless in the first quarter, Mitchell responded with a 13-point second quarter of her own to ignite Indiana to a franchise record for the most points in a second quarter with 36 to take the lead into the locker room. The fifth-year guard ended the game with 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including a 4-of-7 clip from beyond the arc. Mitchell also became the fourth player in franchise history to surpass at least 1,900 points while with the franchise.
In her third game with Indiana, former Minnesota Lynx Guard Crystal Dangerfield led the Fever bench with 10 points and a team-high six assists in her first game against her former team. Alanna Smith was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in her career and finished with nine points, five rebounds, and two steals. NaLyssa Smith and Victoria Vivians each also nine points to keep Minnesota winless to begin the new season. Per Across the Timeline, Queen Egbo came off the bench while working her way back from a left ankle injury to become the sixth rookie in WNBA history to finish a game with at least eight rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots. Destanni Henderson added eight points and dished out five assists. After Henderson’s first three games in the WNBA, she has compiled 13 assists, while only committing four turnovers.
For Minnesota, Center Sylvia Fowles tallied a new season-high 26 points to go along with a game-high 14 rebounds. Jessica Shepard was one assist shy of recording a triple-double, while Rachel Banham added 14 points off the bench.
The Fever announced Wednesday Afternoon the team released guard Crystal Dangerfield, and will activate center Alaina Coates and guard Danielle Robinson ahead of tomorrow night’s game at the New York Liberty. In three games with the team this season, Dangerfield averaged 6.0 points and 3.3 assists in 16.0 minutes per game after signing a hardship exception contract on Friday. Fans in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio are able to stream Friday’s game at New York beginning at 8 pm on the Indiana Fever’s Facebook Page.
Indiana University Baseball Player Carter Mathison Named Big Ten Freshman of The Week
After setting the Indiana baseball freshman home run record, Carter Mathison was tabbed as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week the conference office announced on Wednesday.
Mathison set the standard for power hitting freshman at Indiana over the weekend with a pair of home runs to push his season total to 15 and pass Alex Dickerson (14; 2009) for the most by an IU rookie in program history. The left-handed hitter hit one on Friday night and one on Sunday to give him the record and move him into a tie for No. 2 in the Big Ten. He posted at least one hit in each game to move his hitting streak to a season-long eight games and registered his team-high-tying 13 multi-RBI game. After a solo home run on Friday, Mathison went 3-for-4 with one RBI and three runs scored in the middle game of the series. He then hit a three-run home run and scored twice in the series finale. In the eighth inning, Mathison’s hustle to first forced an errant throw which allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate.
The 15 home runs rank #2 all-time in Big Ten history among freshmen, trailing Iowa’s Brad Carlson who hit 21 home runs during the 1999 season. His 15 home runs are equal to Maryland’s Maxwell Costes’ 15 home runs from 2019.
It is the first weekly honor for Mathison, who leads all Big Ten freshmen with 39 RBIs and is No. 2 in hits among the conference rookies. Joining Josh Pyne as a Freshman of the Week winner this season for IU, it is the first time since 2019 that multiple IU Freshmen earned the honor from the conference office. That season, Grant Richardson (twice) and Gabe Bierman each earned the honor.
Indiana returns home for the final home series of the season versus Minnesota. The series opener will begin at 7pm tomorrow and the Hoosiers will celebrate senior day on Saturday prior to the 4pm first pitch. Saturday’s game time was adjusted as the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and Sunday’s series finale scheduled for 1pm.
Indiana Softball falls to Penn State in Big Ten Tournament opener
Indiana softball dropped their opening game in the Big Ten Tournament, 2-1 in eight innings to Penn State on Wednesday. Penn State got on the board first with a double that scored one and put them up 1-0. In the second inning Indiana got Lindsey Warick to third base, but stranded her. The Hoosiers scored in the top of the fourth inning as Brianna Copeland got her second hit of the game an RBI single to even the game 1-1. In the fifth Indiana started with back-to-back singles, but grounded into a double play and had a strikeout to end the inning. Indiana took care of Penn State with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh as freshman Heather Johnson ended it with a strikeout. In the eighth inning Cora Bassett was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Radcliffe. The next two Hoosiers were retired to end the inning. Penn State scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a single through the left side to advance to face second Nebraska at 11am this morning.
The Hoosiers drop to 27-22 on the season and are unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament. Indiana recorded six hits in the game with Brianna Copeland going to 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base. Indiana has tallied 114 stolen bases on the season compared to 38 from their opponents. Cora Bassett recorded a hit for the Hoosiers. She ends the season with a .400 batting average and ended the season with 57 runs scored to tie the Hoosiers all-time record for single season runs. The Indiana softball team earned five Big Ten awards, highlighted by Bassett on the First Team All-Big Ten along with Edgewood Grad Taylor Minnick selected to the All-Freshman Team. Minnick and Heather Johnson earned spots on the All-Freshman Team. Grayson Radcliffe was selected as the Hoosiers Sportsmanship Award honoree. Minnick was the only Big Ten Freshman to earn All-Big Ten First or Second Team honors.
Indiana University Women’s Golfer Aine Donegan concludes season at NCAA Regional
Indiana women’s golf freshman Aine Donegan tied for 32nd at 2022 NCAA Ann Arbor Regional on Wednesday after shooting a 226 (72-77-77; +13). Emily Mahar of Virginia Tech and Jana Melichova of Old Dominion advanced as the top two individuals along the top four teams including Regional Champions San Jose State, Virginia, Arkansas and Michigan to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale Arizona.
Donegan shot a 6-over 77 in the final round to match her score from the second round. During her debut season in Bloomington, Donegan established the new program records for single-season average and freshman scoring average at 73.17 strokes per round. The All-Big Ten Second Team performer started on the back nine of the course for the first time in the tournament.
Indianapolis Indians Coverage
Indians Fall at Charlotte 5-4
A four-run sixth inning highlighted by four extra-base hits – one of which was a leadoff home run from catcher Carter Bins in his Triple-A debut – was not enough as the Indianapolis Indians fell to the Charlotte Knights on Wednesday night, 5-4. Game three of the six game series is tonight at 7:04 pm.
Indians Record:15-15 Charlotte Record: 13-19
WP: Lincoln Henzman (1-1) LP: Austin Brice (0-1)
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