Indiana Fever, Grace Berger Eliminated from WNBA Playoff Contention
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It was always unlikely that Grace Berger and the Indiana Fever were going to make the 2023 WNBA playoffs.
They were able to select South Carolina superstar Aliyah Boston with the first overall pick in the draft for a reason. It's a young team, and one that entered Friday's night game with an 11-24 record. The playoffs were never the expectation for this squad.
Still, it's unfortunate to see Berger — the all-time winningest player in Indiana women's basketball history — and her team fail to reach the WNBA playoffs during her first year as a professional.
The Fever fell to the Dallas Wings on Friday night by a score of 110-100. Berger only received 12 minutes of playing time in the game, and she did not score any points.
Only eight of the 12 teams in the WNBA make the playoffs, and now sitting at 11-25, the Fever will not reach that top two-thirds mark of the league. The team only has four regular season games remaining, which means just four more opportunities for Hoosier fans to watch an IU legend in her rookie season.
Here are the Indiana Fever's four remaining games:
- @ Dallas Wings, Sunday, Sept. 3, 4:00 p.m. ET (Dallas, Texas)
- Vs Chicago Sky, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 7:00 p.m. ET (Indianapolis, Ind.)
- @ Connecticut Sun, Friday, Sept. 8, 7:00 p.m. ET (Uncasville, Conn.)
- Vs Minnesota Lynx, Sunday, Sept. 10 1:00 p.m. ET (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Despite her quiet outing on Friday, it's been a good rookie season for Berger.
She hardly saw the court during the first half of the season, but broke out near the all-star break with a 15-point performance against the New York Liberty, and has taken off since then.
Overall, Berger has averaged 4.1 points, 1.7 assists and 1.3 assists per game in the 32 contests she's appeared in for the Fever during the 2023 season. Most impressively, the rookie from Bloomington has shot a blistering 48.4% from three, far better than any three-point split she ever posted for coach Teri Moren and the Hoosiers.
Berger's WNBA rookie campaign unfortunately will not include any postseason experience, but it's been a very successful one for her nonetheless.
Related Stories:
- GRACE BERGER SCORES 14 POINTS IN FEVER WIN: The former Indiana Hoosier had arguably her best game in the WNBA to date on Thursday, finishing with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the Fever's 90-86 win. CLICK HERE
- WNBA EXPERT STEVE JONES JR. TAKS GRACE BERGER: To learn more about how the Indiana basketball legend has performed in her first WNBA season, HoosiersNow.com spoke with co-host of The Dunker Spot Steve Jones Jr. about the Indiana Fever's Grace Berger. CLICK HERE
