Sacramento Chills Fever, 65-51

STAR OF THE GAME KELLY MILLER For much of the night in Sacramento, Miller was the Fever's only offense. She finished the game with 12 points before fouling out with 1:34 left in the contest. She shot 4-of-8 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers. UNSUNG HERO DEANNA JACKSON Jackson played sparingly in the first half, but came off the bench for 17 minutes in the second period. Four of her six points, and both of her steals came during the Fever's run that cut the Monarchs' lead from 17 to six. QUOTABLE BRIAN WINTERS On Sacramento's run at the end of the first half: “I thought we played alright through the first half of the first half, but then we made some turnovers and I thought we lost our poise. Then we couldn’t hit any shots and things snowballed from there.” On poor shooting: “We shot 29 percent for the game and we missed nine free throws. That’s not going to win very many games.” On Sacramento's defense: “They’re quick, long and lively. They are very active defensively and they are a very good team. They will be a contender in the West, that’s for sure.” HIDDEN NUMBERS Points in the paint: Monarchs 22, Fever 18 Fast-break points: Monarchs 6, Fever 4 Second-chance points: Fever 12, Monarchs 6 Points off turnovers: Monarchs 17, Fever 6 Starters scoring: Monarchs 61, Fever 35 Bench scoring: Fever 16, Monarchs 4 RELATED LINKS Box Score | WNBA Recap

GAME REPORT
	Monarchs 65, Fever 51
June 7, 2005 at ARCO Arena (Sacramento, Calif.)

Just like at Seattle on Saturday, Indiana trailed by double figures much of the game only to come back and make things tight midway through the second half. Sacramento led by as many as 17 points, helped by two long Indiana scoring droughts. Sacramento (5-1) shot 44 percent for the game, but was shooting at a 55 percent clip early in the second half while the Fever (4-3) struggled to shot just 29 percent.

Yolanda Griffith led four double-figure scorers for the Monarchs, pouring in 22 points and adding a game-high nine rebounds. Ticha Penicheiro added 15 points and four assists for Sacramento. DeMya Walker scored 12 points and Nicole Powell added 10.

Indiana's Tamika Catchings led the Fever with 13 points, but did not score her first field goal until 5:06 remained in the contest. She made 9-of-14 free throw attempts, but was 0-of-7 from the floor until her driving layup brought the Fever within six, 51-45. She finished 2-of-10 from the field and that was as close as the Fever would get.

Indiana led a tight battle in the early going, but turnovers and missed shots turned into a prolonged drought as Indiana went from a 17-16 lead to a 33-18 deficit while going without a field goal for 7:11 late in the opening period. Since Ebony Hoffman's jumper to put Indiana into the lead, the Fever did not score from the field until Kelly Miller's 3-pointer with 1:50 left in the first half ended the drought.

The Monarchs took a 35-23 advantage into halftime, and opened the second half where it left off - scoring eight of the first 11 points and staking claim to a 43-26 lead, its largest of the game.

The Fever's only basket in the opening run was another 3-pointer by Miller. Her short jumper with 13:26 remaining was just the third Fever field goal in a span of 15:40 that encompassed scoreless stretches on both sides of the intermission.

Yolanda Paige hit a 19-foot jumper to cut the lead to 11, and back-to-back buckets by Ebony Hoffman - sandwiched around four straight free throws by Catchings - cut the deficit to nine, 50-41. Deanna Jackson's second basket of the flurry brought Indiana within seven, and Catchings' layup one minute later cut the gap to six.

Indiana's 17-8 scoring run took over 12 minutes, however, and Sacramento free throws sealed the game down the stretch.

Sacramento, after going 3-1 on a season-opening road trip, returned home and its two games at ARCO Arena by a combined 42 points. The Monarchs routed Los Angeles on Saturday, 81-53.