Stephanie White and the Indiana Fever are now just one win away from booking their spot in the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2015. Standing in their way are the Las Vegas Aces, who will do everything in their power to deny Indiana a chance to secure just the second title in Fever franchise history.
Interestingly, it was White who led Indiana to the Finals a decade ago, during her first stint as the team’s head coach. That was White’s first season at the helm, too. Unfortunately, they lost out to the Minnesota Lynx in the championship series, 3-2.
White parted ways with the Fever the following season, which put an end to her two-year tenure as head coach. She took over the helm at Vanderbilt, where she spent five seasons, before returning to the WNBA in 2023 with the Connecticut Sun.
After winning Coach of the Year in 2024, White agreed to return to the Fever this past offseason.
White got an opportunity to reflect on how far she’s come ahead of Tuesday’s do-or-die matchup in Vegas. When asked by a reporter if she feels “weird” to be on the brink of a full-circle moment, the veteran coach responded honestly.
“What’s weird is just the layouts have been so different every time I’ve been a part of it,” White said. “Coming back full circle, doing it with [former Fever player and now assistant coach Briann January], with [Natasha Howard], with [assistant coach Karima Christmas-Kelly], who was on our 2012 team, [assistant coach Austin Kelly] was a practice guy on that team, it just makes it special.
“I think every single one of us believes that we could be in this position, but with everything that has happened throughout the course of this season, I think being able to be one game away, being able to play in a Game 5 in a series like this, it just makes everything that we went through worth it.”
As White said, it has been quite a campaign for the Fever, who have lost no less than five players to season-ending injuries. This includes cornerstone superstar Caitlin Clark, who was limited to 13 games in her sophomore year.
Despite their dire circumstances, the Fever have shown their resilience. They’ve been counted out many times, but they’ve proven time and time again that they are capable of upsetting the odds.
The best part, however, is that they’re not done yet. Playing on the road in a winner-take-all matchup against four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and the Aces is an undeniably daunting task, but White and her team are confident that they can pull it off.
