The Indiana Fever trailed by as many as 15 points against the Golden State Valkyries before losing, 88-75. There were many problems for Indiana in the game, although veteran guard Sophie Cunningham and head coach Stephanie White pointed to a similar issue that really hurt them.
Indiana wasn't able to play its usual game, with Golden State's top-rated defense making it hard for the offense to score. It's just the third time this season that the Fever have failed to score more than 80 points in a game.
Bench scoring was also a problem, with the Valkyries' second unit outscoring the Fever's bench, 43-21.
However, the biggest issue for the Fever in the loss is one that has constantly hounded them this season: turnovers. Indiana committed 15 turnovers, allowing the Valkyries to score 22 points off those mistakes.
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White admitted that failing to take care of the ball prevented them from mounting a comeback against Golden State.
"The turnovers kill you when you're trying to mount a comeback and when you're trying to give yourself an opportunity against a team that doesn't typically give you those possessions back," White said in her postgame press conference before adding, "I felt like they were the tougher team tonight."
Cunningham, for her part, identified the same problem when asked why their offense struggled.
"I think we had a little bit of too many turnovers," Cunningham shared. "They definitely slowed the pace down and at the end of the day, we got to play what works for us. We got to got to keep our pace high."
The Fever are third in the league in turnovers per game at 14.4, behind only the Washington Mystics and Portland Fire. That being said, it's not surprising why Cunningham and White were so concerned about it.
For what it's worth, White has been preaching about the Fever's need to take care of the ball better all season long. Clearly, with half of the 2026 campaign left, they still need to find consistency in that area.
