Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White watches from the sideline in the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Dallas Wings in Indianapolis, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo\/Michael Conroy)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-08-15T03:10:59Z<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 Stephanie White was greeted by cheers instead of boos. And the Indiana Fever and their fans had plenty of reasons to be happy before the night was over.<\/p>\n
Caitlin Clark had 29 points and 10 assists in an entertaining duel with fellow No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers, and the Fever beat the Dallas Wings 98-87<\/a><\/span> on Friday night in a rare game that wasn\u2019t marred by on-court or off-court controversies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe love each other in that locker room and we know there are a lot of people out there that are trying to tear it apart,\u201d White said, three days Indiana\u2019s coach denounced the \u201cdivisiveness\u201d around the WNBA<\/a><\/span> in a 2 1\/2-minute pregame rant. \u201cWhen we say we\u2019re a family, we mean that. It doesn\u2019t always mean we get along, It doesn\u2019t mean we always agree. But at the end of the day, it means we circle are wagons and we have each other\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n White had drawn the wrath of Fever fans \u2014 and even Indiana Lt. Gov Micah Beckwith \u2014 after what some saw as her downplaying a flagrant foul by Chicago\u2019s DiJonai Carrington<\/a><\/span> on Indiana\u2019s Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>\n After White called the foul on Cunningham \u201cegregious\u201d during her table-pounding pregame speech on Tuesday and said she always backed her players, the Fever went out and beat the New York Liberty 106-92 as Clark and her teammates rallied around their coach<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n All appeared to be forgiven on Friday as the Fever picked up their third straight win.<\/p>\n \u201cI think our fans, you know the true Indiana Fever fans, are amazing. They\u2019ve been incredible to me for a long time,\u201d White said. \u201cBut more than anything, I\u2019m thankful for this group of women and the men on our staff, and I\u2019m thankful we can all lift each other up when need to be and they\u2019ve been lifting me up. I\u2019m happy about that.\u201d<\/p>\n