Zellous scores season-high 23 points to lead Fever in 78-73 win over Liberty

Zellous scores 23 to lead Fever past Liberty

INDIANAPOLIS — Shavonte Zellous scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Indiana Fever to a 78-73 victory over the New York Liberty on Saturday night.

Katie Douglas had 19 points and Tamika Catchings added 14 for the Fever (4-3), who have won four of their last five. Zellous, acquired from Tulsa on May 27, shot 6 for 10 and finished two points shy of her career high.

“You can see how excited we were to get Shavonte Zellous,” Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. “She’s tough, coming from that Detroit Shock mentality with (Bill) Laimbeer, (Rick) Mahorn, and Cheryl Reeve over the last couple of years. You may knock her down, but boy, she’s going to get right back up.”

Douglas entered the contest coming off a season-high 22-point performance in Thursday’s 79-57 blowout of the San Antonio Silver Stars.

“I wish I could flip a switch and be on, but it’s just one of those things where I’ve got my legs back and got into a rhythm,” Douglas said. “It feels good.”

Cappie Pondexter had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead the Liberty (2-4), who have lost four of five including a 75-68 loss at Connecticut on Friday night. Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 11 points.

New York has lost 13 straight at Conseco Fieldhouse since its last victory there in 2002.

“They got the shots they needed,” Pondexter said. “We fought good to the end considering the back-to-back. Indiana plays with a lot of heart. Zellous was the key for what they needed. She was the difference.”

Janel McCarville hit a 3-pointer with 13.1 seconds left to pull the Liberty to 76-73, but Indiana’s Ebony Hoffman made two free throws and grabbed a rebound off Pondexter’s miss in the final seconds to seal the victory.

“Overall, we did what we needed to win,” Dunn said. “We did good things in spurts and are pleased to beat a tough team like New York.”

The Fever opened on a 14-4 run but New York rallied to tie the score at 18 at the end of the first quarter. The Liberty took their last lead when McWilliams-Franklin hit a free throw to put them ahead 32-31 with 1:10 to go in the first half.

Indiana led 35-32 at halftime and and pushed its lead to 13 — its biggest margin of the night — on a turnaround jumper from former Liberty center Jessica Davenport with 3:48 left in the third.