 AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - Tamika Catchings had 27 points and 10 rebounds and the Indiana Fever beat the Detroit Shock 89-82 in overtime on Saturday to force a decisive third game in the Eastern Conference playoff series.
Game 3 is Tuesday night in Auburn Hills.
Indiana came into the game with a 0-4 record against the Shock this season, including Detroit's win in Game 1 on Friday night.
The teams made the first 43 free throws of the game before Tammy Sutton-Brown's miss with 24.8 seconds left. That left Detroit down three, and Katie Smith could only split a pair from the line at the other end.
Katie Douglas then hit one of two, leaving the Fever up 73-70 with 13.8 seconds to go. Yinka Sanni's layup made it 73-72, but Catchings made two more free throws to restore the three-point edge.
Deanna Nolan, though, came back down the floor and hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds to play, forcing the extra session.  The Shock, though, struggled to hit inside, and Indiana clinched the game with consecutive 3-pointers by Ebony Hoffman and Tully Bevilaqua.
Hoffman, who also had a key 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Tammy Sutton-Brown had 19 points for Indiana.
Nolan scored 16 points for Detroit, as did Plenette Pierson before leaving the game with a fourth-quarter shoulder injury.
Indiana never trailed in the first half, and took a 42-38 advantage at the intermission behind 15 points from Catchings and 10 from Sutton-Brown.
The Fever expanded the lead to nine, 49-40, early in the third quarter and continued to fight off Detroit's attempts to rally. The Shock got as close as three, but Indiana was back up 55-46 at period's end.
Pierson had six points in an 8-0 run that pulled the Shock within 57-56 with 7:15 left.
Indiana was still holding the one-point lead when Pierson injured her right shoulder during a scuffle with Hoffman that saw both players given technical fouls.
The Fever only hit one field goal in the first 9 minutes of the fourth, but made enough free throws to keep the lead until Nolan hit two free throws to put Detroit up 69-68 with 1:09 to go.
Hoffman, though, answered with a 3-pointer after Smith stumbled on defense. |