Fever coach Stephanie White owns up to her mistake after loss to Aces

Stephanie White made a crucial decision late in the Indiana Fever’s 86-84 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. Instead of calling a timeout late in overtime, she allowed her players to make the right call on the court. The team dropped its second consecutive game and lost via a brutal way as Chelsea Gray converted a game-winning triple at the buzzer.

Indiana led by three points with seven seconds left in regulation and Caitlin Clark shot two free throws. She missed them both, giving Gray the opportunity to tie the game with a three-pointer. The three-time All-Star also committed a turnover in the extra period with less than 10 seconds remaining. Gray delivered and forced overtime. Her two buzzer-beaters in the same game etched her name in the WNBA record books as it was the first time it happened in league history.

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White reacts during the first half of an WNBA basketball game against the Seattle Storm.

Stephanie White takes the blame for Fever loss to Aces

White addressed the media after the game and owned up to her costly decision. She also highlighted her pride in her players but stressed that the entire team needs to learn from the tough loss.

“I’m proud of our group because to be able to take a punch like that and then we kind of just stood there,” White said. “I don’t know a whole lot about boxing. But when you hold on right there, we kind of just held on. And then we found a way to get back. We got to learn from this because there have been too many games where we’ve had leads and we’ve relaxed and we’ve let teams back in it.

“So I’m not sure on that. We got to learn from it. We got to make plays when we need to make plays. I feel like I should have called a timeout at the end, too, when we didn’t see anything that we liked when the clock was running down. That’s on me. But at the end of the day, we got to watch it, we got to learn from it, we got to grow and we can’t trip on it.”

The good news for White and Co. is they remain fifth in the standings with a 19-12 record. They also have a chance to bounce back quickly by winning over the Chicago Sky on Saturday.