Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston will represent the Indiana Fever in the national squad for the upcoming FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin, Germany. Joining the superstar duo is coach Stephanie White, who will be an assistant under Team USA head coach Kara Lawson.
The Fever are currently preparing for Friday’s home matchup against the Connecticut Sun. They are looking to make it two wins in a row after their dominant 113-90 win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday.
The Connecticut game will be Indiana’s last contest before the WNBA goes on a three-week break for the World Cup. On Wednesday during practice, Coach White was asked about her plans for the Fever when she leaves the squad for the prestigious international tournament.
“Yeah, well, we got to create structure,” she said. “I think that’s the most important thing. You create the structure for them, prioritize what you can do.
“Certainly rest that first week, and then prioritize what you can do in the next 10 days before we play, working on us, player development, things that we want to add, things that we want to get better at.
“Then as we get closer to game time, game prep again and situational awareness and situations and things like that.”
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White pointed out that this is not the first time she’s experiencing an extended mid-season break. She was coaching the Fever in 2016 when the league went on a month-long hiatus for the Olympics.
“I think we take a lot of that and really work on player development, really work on, number one, getting back in shape because I would imagine if they have a little time off, they’re not going to do a whole lot,” she continued.
“Player development, certainly being able to add. We want to be different heading into the playoffs, and we’ve got to be able to add some different things. We’ve got to make sure that that time off doesn’t cause any rust. So playing a lot, getting up and down the floor.”
White announced that assistant coaches Austin Kelly and Briann January will handle coaching duties while she’s gone. “We’ll be in constant communication, but they’ve been through it, so I trust them to find the right combinations,” added the former WNBA Coach of the Year.
The World Cup will take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 12. Meanwhile, the WNBA will be on break from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16.
Indiana’s first game after the break will be on Sept. 18 on the road against the Toronto Tempo.
