Indiana Fever fans come out in droves for finals

INDIANAPOLIS – A sign at Wednesday’s Game Four of the WNBA finals said, “We’re not going back to Arizona.”

If the Indiana Fever want another chance at winning, the team will have to.  

The Fever have another chance to win at Phoenix on Friday, after losing 90-77 to the Mercury in Indianapolis.  

Fever fans came in droves Wednesday, each point or rebound sparking cheers that could have probably reached Lucas Oil Stadium.

Some fans were dressed in Pacers or Colts gear, but most were in yellow or red T-shirts.

Fans with noisemakers, plastic clappers and handmade signs hollered for the 11 players on the home team’s roster.

A sign meant to spell out the acronym ESPN said “Fever Spank Phoenix Now.”

Ten-year-old Tyra Edwards, with a face-painted Fever logo, used washable markers and yellow construction paper to make a “Got the Fever? I do! Burn fever burn!” sign.

Nida Tansinsin came to support not just the team, but her former teammate and current Fever player Katie Douglas.

She and 13 friends and relatives wore handmade T-shirts that said “KT” on the front with the Fever logo and “23 Douglas” on the back. Tansinsin and Douglas played together at Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis.

“She took my starting spot in my high school from the moment she stepped in the gym,” Tansinsin said.  

Wednesday’s game was a sell-out, with 18,165 fans in attendance.

“I’ve been coming to Fever games more since she started and to see the amount of people here is phenomenal,” she said.

Wearing a T-shirt that read “Our time is now,” teacher Deborah Kerr-Brenner drove with her husband from Cincinnati to watch the possible championship game.

Like many of the fans, Kerr-Brenner was happy to see Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird support the team by attending the game.

The large crowd showed that a WNBA team that wins can attract fans.

“It’s major,” Kerr-Brenner said. “It’s major, and it’s fun.”

Tansinsin said the turnout proved a good women’s team will sell.

“This is definitely the biggest crowd I’ve seen,” Tansinsin said. “Whether it’s minor, these girls are big-time players.”

Indianapolis resident Barbara Page came with a friend and sat behind a hand-made sign. She said that Indianapolis isn’t solely a Colts or Pacers community.

“We’ve got Fever mania,” Page said. “We support whoever, 100 percent.”

Fever forward Ebony Hoffman said the team was grateful for Wednesday’s turnout.  

“They’ve rallied behind us to a point when we couldn’t imagine seeing 18,000 fans in Conseco Fieldhouse, especially in a WNBA game,” she said. “There’s so much talk about us that you know that we’ve got people coming and showing their support and buying tickets. Those weren’t free tickets, those were bought tickets.”

Despite a possible loss Friday, in Phoenix, where the final game of the series will take place, Tansinsin said this season won’t have been for nothing.

“I still think they kind of represented what Hoosier basketball is about,” she said, “and how much we can build up the WNBA here.”