Fever overwhelmed by Chicago's size, limp into week off amidst 6-game skid

INDIANAPOLIS -- There has been no shortage of reasons for the Indiana Fever’s six-game losing streak, many manifesting themselves on different nights: an inability to consistently score from the outside, poor execution in the last minutes of quarters.

Thursday’s game against Chicago added a lack of size to the list.

Missing forward Queen Egbo for the second straight game, Indiana had only one player — forward NaLyssa Smith — available taller than 6-2. The Sky pounded the Fever inside and swarmed defensively in a 93-84 win at Indiana Farmers Coliseum. It was Indiana’s first single-digit loss during its skid..

“We just gotta try to be disruptive as much on the pass into the bigs from a guard standpoint and then fight our butt off to make sure that we try to get around the post because there are dynamic players,” interim coach Carlos Knox said. “Candace (Parker) makes them so much better and it showed.”

More Fever: Kelsey Mitchell is one of WNBA's top scorers, but not an All-Star. 'A lot more to be done.'

Photos: WNBA Indiana Fever against the Chicago Sky

The Sky (16-6) trotted out a starting lineup that included Parker and Emma Meesseman, both 6-4, and rotated in 6-6 Azura Stevens and 6-7 Li Yueru. The Parker-Meesseman-Stevens trio combined for 50 points and 22 rebounds. As a team, Chicago had 48 points in the paint and outrebounded the Fever 41-27.

“Queen’s absence is a very big factor. It’s a huge factor,” Knox said. “She gives us a post presence, an anchor defensively, and I think that played a major part in the anchor portion of our defense. But I think Meesseman is such a dynamic scorer as well. She’s one of those players that you can’t let her get going. You can’t let her get comfortable, and I think she did a great job of adjusting to how we played her last game and she turned it up.”

On the perimeter, the Sky denied passes to the wings, forcing the Fever to play a more inside game.

Emily Engstler got to the rim two minutes into the game and was denied by Meesseman, who stuffed Victoria Vivians two minutes after that. No Fever player other than Smith scored until Kelsey Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 2:50 left in the first quarter.

Having trailed for almost the entire game, the Fever (5-19) engineered a late charge near the end of the fourth quarter. Chicago's lead was down to 13, and Indiana had a chance, slim as it may have been, to get into striking distance with just over two minutes left. Mitchell missed a 3-pointer, and Smith snagged a rebound, only to be swallowed up under the basket by Stevens and 6-4 Ruthy Hebard. The rookie had nowhere to go and coughed up the ball.

“They block shots,” Smith said. “They’re more in help-side. They help in the paint a lot more. It’s just when you drive you know there’s gonna be someone there to block your shot, so it’s just making the right pass, making the right shots.”

Smith finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Mitchell had her typical 27 points and five assists.

Because of the all-star break, the Fever don't play again until Wednesday, at which point it will have been almost a month since their last win.

"We have to come in and approach the remainder of this season as if our life depends on it," Knox said. "And I think I have some soldiers that can actually get that done, I do. But more importantly, I just feel like as a staff, as a unit, we are going to have to put our heads together and think of a way that our team can consistently come out and give us a great 40 minutes."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WNBA: Indiana Fever fall to Chicago Sky in final game before break