24
Tamika Catchings
2002–2016
The franchise. 2011 MVP, 2012 Finals MVP, five-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time All-Star. Naismith, Women’s, and FIBA Hall of Fame (2020). No. 24 is the only retired jersey.
Franchise history · 27 seasons
The complete Indiana Fever story
From a 9–23 expansion club in 2000 to a championship in 2012, a decade of Catchings, a hard rebuild, and the Clark era packing Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Every season is below.
- Seasons
- 27
- All-time
- 428–499
- Playoffs
- 16
- Titles
- 1
- East titles
- 3
- Cup
- 2025
The facts
- Founded
- 2000
- Home
- Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
- Conference
- Eastern
- Colors
- Navy, red, gold
- Mascot
- Freddy Fever
- Owner
- Herb Simon (Pacers Sports & Entertainment)
- Championships
- 1 (2012)
- Conference titles
- 3 (2009, 2012, 2015)
- Commissioner's Cup
- 1 (2025)
- Playoff trips
- 16
- All-time record
- 428–499
- Retired numbers
- 24 — Tamika Catchings
The eras
- 2000
Expansion: the Fever are born
Indiana joins the WNBA as an expansion franchise for the 2000 season, playing downtown at Conseco Fieldhouse. Hall of Fame coach Anne Donovan leads the inaugural 9–23 team. Owner Herb Simon — who also owns the Pacers — plants women’s basketball in the same building.
- 2001
Catchings is drafted
Nell Fortner takes over (10–22). Indiana selects Tamika Catchings of Tennessee third overall. A pre-draft knee injury keeps her out of her rookie year — the wait only makes 2002 louder.
- 2002
First playoffs, first superstar
Catchings debuts and averages 18.6 points. Indiana goes 16–16 and reaches the playoffs for the first time. Catchings wins Rookie of the Year and begins a 15-season run that still defines the franchise.
- 2005–2007
The streak begins
Brian Winters’ Fever post a 21–13 season in 2005 — their best yet — and start a 12-year playoff streak (2005–2016). Natalie Williams, Tammy Sutton-Brown, and Tully Bevilaqua give Indiana a defensive identity. Winters finishes 78–58 as head coach.
- 2008
Lin Dunn takes the helm
Assistant Lin Dunn is named head coach. Over seven seasons she goes 135–103, reaches two Finals, and wins the franchise’s only championship. Katie Douglas arrives. Briann January is drafted in 2009.
- 2009
First Finals
Indiana goes 22–12, wins the Eastern Conference, and reaches the WNBA Finals. Phoenix takes the series in five games. The Fever belong on the last weekend of the year.
- 2011
Catchings, MVP
Catchings wins the WNBA Most Valuable Player award (15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.4 steals). She already owns a record pile of Defensive Player of the Year trophies. The last missing piece is a ring.
- 2012
Champions
Indiana goes 22–12 and beats the Minnesota Lynx 3–1. Catchings is Finals MVP (22.3 points, 6 rebounds, 3.5 assists in the series). Katie Douglas, Briann January, Erlana Larkins, and Shavonte Zellous close it at home. It remains the only banner in the rafters.
- 2015
Third conference title
Stephanie White — a Fever player from 2000 to 2004 — becomes head coach. Indiana goes 20–14, wins the East, and returns to the Finals. Minnesota wins in five. Three conference titles: 2009, 2012, 2015.
- 2016–2017
The Catchings era ends
Catchings’ last season is 17–17 and a first-round exit. She retires with 7,380 points, 3,316 rebounds, 1,488 assists, and 1,074 steals — still franchise records. No. 24 is retired in 2017. Indiana goes 9–25 and misses the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
- 2018–2022
The rebuild
Kelsey Mitchell is taken No. 2 overall in 2018 and becomes the scorer who holds the franchise together. The bottom is 5–31 in 2022. Multiple coaches, including Marianne Stanley and interim Carlos Knox, try to turn it. The playoff streak is a memory. The draft capital is not.
- 2023
Boston, No. 1
Christie Sides’ first year is 13–27, but Aliyah Boston — South Carolina’s national champion — is the first overall pick and wins Rookie of the Year. The paint is whole again.
- 2024
Clark era begins
Caitlin Clark goes No. 1, wins Rookie of the Year, and turns Gainbridge Fieldhouse into the hardest ticket in the WNBA. Indiana improves to 20–20, returns to the playoffs, and falls in the first round to Connecticut. Sellouts. National TV. A new generation of Fever fans.
- 2025
White returns, Cup champions
Stephanie White is back on the sideline. Indiana goes 24–20 — a franchise wins record at the time — and reaches the semifinals (lost to Las Vegas). On July 1 they beat the Minnesota Lynx 74–59 to win the Commissioner's Cup, the first in franchise history.
- 2026
The window is open
Mitchell signs a supermax. Hull stays. Cunningham, Billings, hometown guard Ty Harris, and second-year big Makayla Timpson fill the edges. Clark, Mitchell, and Boston are All-Star starters. Indiana plays at 96.6 points per game, first in the league, and sits 25–14 in the East with five games left and the title window wide open.
Every season, 2000–2026
Regular-season record, head coach, and how the year ended. 2026 is still in progress.
| Year | Record | Coach | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 9–23 | Anne Donovan | Missed playoffs |
| 2001 | 10–22 | Nell Fortner | Missed playoffs |
| 2002 | 16–16 | Nell Fortner | First playoff berth |
| 2003 | 15–19 | Nell Fortner | Missed playoffs |
| 2004 | 15–19 | Brian Winters | Missed playoffs |
| 2005 | 21–13 | Brian Winters | Playoffs — streak begins |
| 2006 | 21–13 | Brian Winters | Playoffs — lost East semis |
| 2007 | 21–13 | Brian Winters | Playoffs — lost East finals |
| 2008 | 17–17 | Lin Dunn | Playoffs — lost East semis |
| 2009 | 22–12 | Lin Dunn | Eastern champs — lost Finals (PHX) |
| 2010 | 21–13 | Lin Dunn | Playoffs — lost East semis |
| 2011 | 21–13 | Lin Dunn | Playoffs — lost East finals, Catchings MVP |
| 2012 | 22–12 | Lin Dunn | WNBA champions (def. MIN 3–1) |
| 2013 | 16–18 | Lin Dunn | Playoffs |
| 2014 | 16–18 | Lin Dunn | Playoffs |
| 2015 | 20–14 | Stephanie White | Eastern champs — lost Finals (MIN) |
| 2016 | 17–17 | Stephanie White | First round — Catchings retires |
| 2017 | 9–25 | Pokey Chatman | Missed playoffs |
| 2018 | 6–28 | Pokey Chatman | Missed playoffs — Mitchell drafted |
| 2019 | 13–21 | Pokey Chatman | Missed playoffs |
| 2020 | 6–16 | Marianne Stanley | Missed playoffs |
| 2021 | 6–26 | Marianne Stanley | Missed playoffs |
| 2022 | 5–31 | Stanley / Knox | Missed playoffs — franchise-low wins |
| 2023 | 13–27 | Christie Sides | Missed playoffs — Boston ROY |
| 2024 | 20–20 | Christie Sides | Playoffs — lost first round (CON) |
| 2025 | 24–20 | Stephanie White | Semifinals — Commissioner's Cup champs |
| 2026 | 25–14 | Stephanie White | Season in progress — 2nd East |
Legends
The players and coaches who built this franchise — plus the core writing the next chapter.
23
Katie Douglas
2008–2013
Championship wing. All-Star scorer and defender who closed the 2012 Finals next to Catchings.
42
Briann January
2009–2017, 2022
Point guard of the 2012 title team. Thirteen WNBA seasons, most of them in Indiana. Now on White’s bench as an assistant.
22
Stephanie White
2000–2004
Purdue All-American, original Fever player, 2015 Finals coach, and the 2025–26 sideline voice.
12
Natalie Williams
2003–2005
Hall of Fame forward who helped turn a young expansion club into a playoff team.
33
Yolanda Griffith
2009
Hall of Fame center who added a veteran post presence to the first Finals team.
1
Shavonte Zellous
2010–2015
Sixth Woman of the Year (2013) and a closer on the 2012 championship roster.
7
Tully Bevilaqua
2005–2012
Australian defensive pest and a starter on the title team.
2
Erlana Larkins
2012–2015
The championship four — screens, rebounds, and the extra possession.
HC
Lin Dunn
Coach 2008–2014
The championship coach. Later general manager, now senior advisor. Two Finals, one banner.
0
Kelsey Mitchell
2018–present
The bridge. No. 2 pick, Ohio State’s all-time scorer, now a supermax All-Star leading Indiana in points.
22
Caitlin Clark
2024–present
The era. 2024 No. 1 pick and ROY who packed the Fieldhouse and pulled the WNBA with her.
7
Aliyah Boston
2023–present
The paint. 2023 No. 1 pick and ROY, All-Star starter, Team USA — the interior half of the new title core.
2012 · WNBA Finals
The night Indiana won it all
Lin Dunn’s Fever beat the Minnesota Lynx 3–1. Tamika Catchings was named Finals MVP. Katie Douglas, Briann January, Erlana Larkins, and Shavonte Zellous closed the series at home. January is back on the bench in 2026 as an assistant — the championship DNA is still in the building.
Thirteen years later, on July 1, 2025, Indiana beat those same Lynx 74–59 to win the first Commissioner's Cup in franchise history.
All-time leaders
Points
7,380
Tamika Catchings
Rebounds
3,316
Tamika Catchings
Assists
1,488
Tamika Catchings
Steals
1,074
Tamika Catchings
MVP awards
2011
Tamika Catchings
Finals MVP
2012
Tamika Catchings
Head coaches
2000
Anne Donovan
Hall of Fame coach. Inaugural 9–23 season.
2001–2003
Nell Fortner
First playoff berth in 2002 (42–56).
2004–2007
Brian Winters
78–58. Started the 12-year playoff streak.
2008–2014
Lin Dunn
135–103. 2012 champion. Two Finals.
2015–2016
Stephanie White
2015 Eastern champions, Finals.
2017–2019
Pokey Chatman
Rebuild after Catchings retired.
2020–2022
Marianne Stanley
Pandemic years and the 5–31 bottom.
2022
Carlos Knox
Interim after Stanley.
2023–2024
Christie Sides
Boston ROY, Clark’s rookie year, 20–20.
2025–present
Stephanie White
Cup champions. 24–20, then 25–14 and counting.
Meet the current team
The 2026 Fever are built to chase a second banner — Clark, Mitchell, and Boston up front, White on the sideline.
Open the roster