The Indiana Fever needed a wake-up call in their do-or-die Game 3 against the Atlanta Dream on Thursday.
They found it during an unlikely moment.
The Fever advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs after escaping the Dream, 87-85, at Gateway Center Arena behind the late-game heroics of Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull.
After the game, Fever coach Stephanie White lauded how her players responded to the challenge.
“We knew that we just had to keep it tight. It just takes a couple of breaks to go your way,” said White, as quoted by Fever reporter Tony East.
East noted that White said Boston getting whistled for a technical foul at the 5:44 mark of the third quarter was the “turning point” and “composure check.”
Boston threw Brionna Jones to the ground after the latter was called for a personal foul as they were jostling in the paint.
As White pointed out, it lit a fire under the Fever. By the end of the third period, they cut the deficit to just four points, 73-69, after the Dream threatened to pull away with an eight-point lead.
The 23-year-old Boston posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds on top of six assists. She also made the go-ahead basket with 7.4 seconds left.
Kelsey Mitchell led the scoring for the Fever with 24 points, while Lexie Hull chipped in 10 points and made a crucial steal in the Dream's inbound play with only 4.8 seconds remaining.
White preached about stepping up to the challenge all season, as they were bitten by the injury bug. They lost key players in Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham to season-ending setbacks and even experienced a late slump. Yet Indiana refused to give up.
The Fever qualified for the semifinals for the first time since 2015.
They will face the Las Vegas Aces, who survived the Seattle Storm in Game 3, in a best-of-five series.
