Sports reporter and former college basketball player Rachel DeMita took issue with Stephanie White’s statement following the Indiana Fever’s loss to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their WNBA playoff first-round series.
The Aces dominated the Fever, leading by as many as 27 points before settling for a 102-85 victory. A’ja Wilson exploded for 38 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, while Jackie Young added 21 points and 10 assists.
No one from the Fever reached the 20-point mark, with their Big 3 of Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell combining for just 45 points.
After the game, head coach Stephanie White was asked if there’s any way the Fever can close the gap between them and the Aces when it comes to playing with urgency, an area in which Indiana is still “young.”
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According to White, however, it just comes with experience. She then proceeded to mention being “humbled” first before finding success.
“I mean, it’s experience. You know, certainly there’s no substitute for experience,” White shared. “You know, some of them got it a year ago, but oftentimes, you have to be humbled first, right? Like, I mean that’s life, right? You don’t always learn from the successes, you learn from being humbled. And so I think for us, we know we felt the difference in the intensity level.”
DeMita, for her part, didn’t like White’s message about being “humbled” first, highlighting that it’s a sign of lacking awareness of the situation they are in. After all, the first round of the playoffs is a three-game series, meaning the first team to win two games moves on.
That being said, every game is important at this point of the postseason. That’s why DeMita was in disbelief over White’s approach.
“Have to be humbled???? in a 3 game series where your best chance of winning was to steal game 1????? I’m speechless,” DeMita wrote.
The Fever will now need to win Game 2 if they want to avoid a first-round exit for the second time in three postseason appearances.
It remains to be seen what kind of adjustments the Fever will make in order to win, but it’s worth noting that White blamed the Fever’s turnovers for their poor showing in Game 1.
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