The 2018 WNBA season was the 19th season for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association. The Fever began play on May 19, 2018.[1]
The Fever started the season poorly by going 0–5 in May. Fortunes did not improve in June and the team was 1–10. The only win was 96–64 against the Atlanta Dream. However, June did include some close losses. The Fever lost to the New York Liberty 78–75 after the Liberty made a 3-pointer with 16.1 seconds left. On the 12th, the Fever lost in overtime against the Las Vegas Aces. In July, the Fever were 2–8, with the two wins coming against the perennial play-off contenders Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks. Both wins were away from home, which meant the Fever were 0–4 at home. In the final month of the season, the Fever were 3–5. They finished with a WNBA worst 6–28 final record, which was also their worst record in franchise history. Their misfortunes continued in the offseason as they lost in the draft lottery in spite of having the best odds, ending with the third selection for the 2019 WNBA draft.
See also: 2018 WNBA draft.
The Fever made three selections in the 2018 WNBA entry draft, held on April 12:
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/Team/Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Kelsey Mitchell | Ohio State | ||
| 1 | 8 | Victoria Vivians | Mississippi State | ||
| 2 | 14 | Stephanie Mavunga | Ohio State |
| Date | Trade | |
|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2018 | Acquired C Kayla Alexander and 2019 WNBA Draft third round pick via trade from Las Vegas Aces for 2019 WNBA Draft second round pick.[2] | |
| March 6, 2018 | Acquired 8th overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft via trade from Phoenix Mercury for Briann January.[3] |
| Player | Signed | Former team | |
| Hind Ben Abdelkader | February 14, 2018[4] | Hatay | |
| Cappie Pondexter | July 1, 2017[5] | Los Angeles Sparks |
| Player | Left | New team | |
| Briann January | March 6, 2018 | Phoenix Mercury | |
| Hind Ben Abdelkader | July 1, 2017 | TBA |
|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 1| May 7| Chicago| W 79–65| Mavunga (18)| Tied (8)| Peterson (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
4,377 | 1–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| May 12| Washington| L 56–91| K. Mitchell (9)| Mavunga (4)| K. Mitchell (3)| Acierno Arena (University of Delaware)
3,323 | 1–1
|- style="background:#fcc;"| 1| May 19| Chicago| L 64–82| Dupree (14)| Dupree (8)| Wheeler (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,565| 0–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| May 20| @ Washington| L 75–82| Achonwa (21)| Achonwa (12)| Wheeler (5)| Capital One Arena
7,400| 0–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| May 22| Los Angeles| L 70–87| K. Mitchell (20)| Achonwa (8)| K. Mitchell (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
4,742| 0–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 4| May 24| Washington| L 84–93| K. Mitchell (25)| Dupree (7)| T. Mitchell (3)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
4,415| 0–4|- style="background:#fcc;"| 5| May 26| @ Connecticut| L 77–86| K. Mitchell (18)| McCall (9)| Wheeler (9)| Mohegan Sun Arena
5,843| 0–5|- style="background:#fcc;"| 6| June 2| New York| L 81–87| K. Mitchell (26)| Dupree (8)| Wheeler (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,575| 0–6|- style="background:#fcc;"| 7| June 8| Dallas| L 83–89| K. Mitchell (26)| McCall (11)| Tied (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,675| 0–7|- style="background:#fcc;"| 8| June 10| @ New York| L 75–78| K. Mitchell (19)| Achonwa (10)| T. Mitchell (7)| Westchester County Center
1,537| 0–8|- style="background:#fcc;"| 9| June 12| Las Vegas| L 92–101 (OT)| Achonwa (26)| Achonwa (15)| Wheeler (8)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,437| 0–9|- style="background:#fcc;"| 10| June 14| @ Atlanta| L 67–72| Dupree (17)| Tied (7)| Wheeler (10)| McCamish Pavilion
6,561| 0–10|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 11| June 16| Atlanta| W 96–64| Vivians (21)| Tied (6)| K. Mitchell (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,234| 1–10|- style="background:#fcc;"| 12| June 19| @ Los Angeles| L 55–74| Achonwa (13)| Achonwa (14)| K. Mitchell (3)| Staples Center
8,857| 1–11|- style="background:#fcc;"| 13| June 22| @ Seattle| L 63–72| Dupree (15)| Tied (7)| Wheeler (4)| KeyArena
8,142| 1–12|- style="background:#fcc;"| 14| June 24| Connecticut| L 78–87| Achonwa (16)| Dupree (8)| K. Mitchell (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,458| 1–13|- style="background:#fcc;"| 15| June 27| @ Connecticut| L 89–101| Vivians (25)| Achonwa (6)| 3 Tied (3)| Mohegan Sun Arena
5,112| 1–14|- style="background:#fcc;"| 16| June 29| Phoenix| L 77–95| K. Mitchell (19)| Dupree (6)| Vivians (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,241| 1–15|- style="background:#fcc;"| 17| July 1| Atlanta| L 83–87| Vivians (27)| Tied (7)| K. Mitchell (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,277| 1–16|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 18| July 3| @ Minnesota| W 71–59| Achonwa (17)| Tied (9)| K. Mitchell (5)| Target Center
8,632| 2–16|- style="background:#fcc;"| 19| July 5| @ Dallas| L 63–90| Dupree (21)| Tied (5)| Wheeler (3)| College Park Center
4,043| 2–17|- style="background:#fcc;"| 20| July 11| Minnesota| L 65–87| Wheeler (12)| Tied (6)| Wheeler (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
10,006| 2–18|- style="background:#fcc;"| 21| July 13| @ Atlanta| L 74–98| T. Mitchell (17)| T. Mitchell (6)| Wheeler (4)| McCamish Pavilion
3,807| 2–19|- style="background:#fcc;"| 22| July 15| Phoenix| L 82–101| Dupree (23)| Dupree (9)| Tied (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,302| 2–20|- style="background:#fcc;"| 23| July 18| @ Minnesota| L 65–89| Dupree (20)| Tied (4)| Tied (4)| Target Center
17,933| 2–21|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 24| July 20| @ Los Angeles| W 78–76| Tied (16)| Achonwa (9)| Tied (5)| Staples Center
10,532| 3–21|- style="background:#fcc;"| 25| July 22| @ Las Vegas| L 74–88| Achonwa (21)| Tied (7)| Pondexter (7)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,368| 3–22|- style="background:#fcc;"| 26| July 24| Seattle| L 72–92| K. Mitchell (26)| Dupree (12)| Tied (4)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,908| 3–23|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 27| August 2| Dallas| W 84–78| Pondexter (18)| Achonwa (5)| Wheeler (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,981| 4–23|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 28| August 4| @ New York| W 68–55| Dupree (25)| Achonwa (13)| Wheeler (7)| Westchester County Center
2,225| 5–23|- style="background:#fcc;"| 29| August 7| Seattle| L 79–94| Dupree (22)| Dupree (8)| Pondexter (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
6,401| 5–24|- style="background:#fcc;"| 30| August 10| @ Phoenix| L 74–97| K. Mitchell (20)| T. Mitchell (9)| K. Mitchell (4)| Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,860| 5–25|- style="background:#fcc;"| 31| August 11| @ Las Vegas| L 74–92| Wheeler (13)| T. Mitchell (8)| Tied (5)| Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,213| 5–26|- style="background:#fcc;"| 32| August 15| Washington| L 62–76| Achonwa (15)| Vivians (9)| Wheeler (5)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
7,636| 5–27|- style="background:#fcc;"| 33| August 18| Chicago| L 106–115| Dupree (30)| Achonwa (11)| Tied (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
8,442| 5–28|- style="background:#bbffbb"| 34| August 19| @ Chicago| W 97–92| Tied (22)| Achonwa (9)| Tied (6)| Wintrust Arena
7,118| 6–28
| style= width="16%" | Player | style= width="6%" | GP | style= width="6%" | GS | style= width="6%" | MPG | style= width="6%" | FG% | style= width="6%" | 3P% | style= width="6%" | FT% | style= width="6%" | RPG | style= width="5%" | APG | style= width="6%" | SPG | style= width="6%" | BPG | style= width="6%" | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candice Dupree | 32 | 32 | 31.4 | 48.8 | 0.0 | 81.9 | 6.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 14.2 | ||||||||||||
| Kelsey Mitchell | 34 | 17 | 24.4 | 34.6 | 33.5 | 80.4 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 12.7 | ||||||||||||
| Natalie Achonwa | 34 | 34 | 26.0 | 52.7 | 0.0 | 80.0 | 6.9 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 10.3 | ||||||||||||
| Cappie Pondexter | 17 | 14 | 24.2 | 38.9 | 39.3 | 84.6 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 10.2 | ||||||||||||
| Tiffany Mitchell | 34 | 20 | 25.6 | 37.1 | 26.7 | 83.5 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 9.1 | ||||||||||||
| Victoria Vivians | 34 | 26 | 27.1 | 40.4 | 39.9 | 93.1 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 8.9 | ||||||||||||
| Erica Wheeler | 34 | 22 | 21.7 | 35.1 | 27.6 | 79.7 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 7.8 | ||||||||||||
| Erica McCall | 34 | 2 | 12.3 | 38.5 | 12.5 | 68.4 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.9 | ||||||||||||
| Kayla Alexander | 30 | 0 | 8.6 | 54.1 | 0.0 | 82.4 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.7 | ||||||||||||
| Stephanie Mavunga | 25 | 0 | 7.8 | 47.7 | 0.0 | 80.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 2.2 | ||||||||||||
| Asia Taylor | 14 | 0 | 8.3 | 31.0 | 20.0 | 77.8 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.9 |