WNBA: Kelsey Mitchell looking like All-Star for Indiana Fever

Indiana Fever shooting guard Kelsey Mitchell was three points shy of the WNBA record for points in a quarter with 19 in the fourth Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The Fever scored 34 as a team in the frame, which they won by three, but fell 94-85 to the Connecticut Sun because they lost the middle two periods by a combined 15.

Diana Taurasi (2006), Brittney Sykes (2019) and Jewell Loyd (2021) have all scored 22 points in a quarter.

The Fever fell to 2-5, while the highly-regarded Sun improved to 3-1. K. Mitchell finished with a game-high 23 points and five assists, while Victoria Vivians notched 15 points in defeat and point guard Danielle Robinson added 10 points and a game-high six helpers.

With just four points through three, K. Mitchell left us all wondering what changed so drastically in the final frame.

“I think our pace increased,” she said. “Our PG (points to Robinson) kind of influenced and imposed her will as far as taking the ball up the floor really fast. And made it her job and her responsibility to make me run faster down the floor. For me it’s just all about seeing one going in. A combination of being patient and understanding schemes and reads.”

“Like (Kelsey) said, I was pushing up the floor,” Robinson said. “Transition defense is somewhere where we know we can punish them, so I think that was the key. But it starts with getting stops. When we do that, we can just run it up their backs and try and get quick touches for (Kelsey) so she doesn’t have to fight through the double-, triple-team kind of thing. All Kelsey needs is one to go in and the rim gets so big. I’m mad at myself for letting it take that long to get her going. Obviously, she has more touches and looks in the first half I think it’s a different ball game. But proud of our effort tonight and for her to get going like that is still incredible. She’s an All-Star by the way.”

Indiana should feel good about playing Connecticut within…