Kelsey Mitchell poured in 30 points, including the 3-pointer to send the game into overtime and scored six more points in the extra period, as the visiting Indiana Fever outlasted the Dallas Wings 97-84 on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
NaLyssa Smith added a career-best 30 points for the Fever (12-25).
Satou Sabally and Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings (20-17) with 22 points each.
The contest was the second of a home-and-home series between the teams, with Dallas winning in Indianapolis on Friday in the first game.
The Wings led by just a point in back-and-forth game after a basket by Indiana’s Aliyah Boston with 56.5 seconds to play in regulation. Dallas then got a pair of free throws by Natasha Howard with 29.4 seconds remaining before Mitchell poured in a 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds left to force overtime.
The extra period belonged to the Fever, who scored the first eight points of the overtime while Dallas missed three shots and had a pair of turnovers. Indiana had more than enough to hang on and win its fourth game in its past five contests.
Aliyah Boston racked up 13 points and 11 rebounds and Erica Wheeler had 11 assists for the Fever, who have won of their past five games.
Howard added 15 points, Teaira McCowan amassed 12 points and 10 rebounds and Crystal Dangerfield scored 11 as Dallas failed to clinch the fourth seed in the upcoming playoffs.
The Fever, who were eliminated from the postseason in Friday’s loss to Dallas, missed their first nine shots from the floor and fell behind 7-2 after Sabally hit a turnaround jumper with 7:19 left in the first quarter. But Indiana rallied, using an 11-0 run capped by Mitchell’s 3-pointer to swoop to a 15-8 lead and took a 23-20 advantage at the end of the opening period.
The Fever lost guard Kristy Wallace to a right knee injury midway through the first period.
Dallas fought back to go up 32-30 on Sabally’s 3-pointer with 4:07 to play in the second quarter but the lead was short lived. The Fever scored seven straight points to assume a 39-34 advantage before settling for a 39-36 lead at the break.
Mitchell paced all scorers in the half with 11 points while Smith had 10 for Indiana. Sabally and Ogunbowale hit for 10 points each before halftime to lead the Wings.
–Field Level Media