I don’t even know where to start with this one.
The Fever just lost 81–80 to the Dallas Wings in a game that should never have been close. This isn’t the Liberty. This isn’t the Aces. This is the Dallas Wings—a team barely holding it together at the bottom of the standings—and you gave them a 21–3 run in your own building.

That’s not bad. That’s embarrassing.

The Third-Quarter Collapse

Once again, this team came out of halftime looking like they left their intensity in the locker room. The third quarter was a disaster. Sloppy ball-handling. Lazy passes. Zero urgency.

And you know what? That’s on the coach. Stephanie White owns that collapse. She’s the one who’s supposed to have them ready. She’s the one who’s supposed to stop the bleeding when the run starts. Instead, she let Dallas rip off points like it was a layup line.

Seventeen turnovers. Twenty-seven points given up off those turnovers. You’re not winning in the WNBA when you gift-wrap a third of the other team’s offense.

The Paige Bueckers Whistle Show

Let’s talk about Paige Bueckers. Because my god—this woman gets the superstar whistle treatment. I’m not sure who has the bigger WNBA whistle right now—her or A’ja Wilson—but it’s close.

Case in point: Sophie Cunningham gets shoved by Paige—two hands, right in the chest. No foul on Paige. Instead? Foul on Sophie. Unbelievable.

And it wasn’t just that. Early in the game, Bueckers kicks out her leg on a three-point attempt, lands on Sophie’s foot—play continues. But later, Grace Berger brushes Kelsey Mitchell’s landing space, and suddenly that’s a call. If one’s a foul, both are. If one’s a flagrant, both are. It’s called consistency.

The Aaliyah Boston Robbery

This one’s going in the “Worst Calls in Basketball History” folder.

Aaliyah Boston is fighting for position. Li Yueru gets both hands on Boston’s right arm, hooks it, and locks it. Boston literally can’t move her arm. Then Li yanks—hard enough that it looked like she was trying to pull it out of the socket.

Foul, right? Sure. But not on Boston.

They call it on her.
And not just that—it’s an and-one.

The refs go to the monitor. Everyone—Rebecca Lobo, Ryan Ruocco, every fan watching—assumes they’ll overturn it. Nope. Call stands.

Multiple offensive fouls committed by Li in one play, and Dallas gets points for it. That’s the definition of a clown show.

The Hot-Hand Mystery: Chloe Bibby

Let’s talk Chloe Bibby. The woman played 12 minutes and scored 11 points. Three-for-three from deep. She comes in, hits shots, swings momentum… and then she’s benched.

That’s the Stephanie White special. The moment a player gets hot, she pulls them. This isn’t load management. This isn’t foul trouble. It’s just bad coaching.

You want to know how you stop a 21–3 run? You leave the hot shooter in the game. Instead, Bibby watched from the bench while the offense sputtered.

The End-Game Disaster

Here’s where Stephanie White really cemented this one in the “loss by coaching” column.

Fever down one, 11.7 seconds left, ball in hand. You’ve got a timeout. The smart play? Call it. Draw up your best shot. Make sure your team knows exactly what’s coming.

Instead, White lets the clock run. Mitchell dribbles into a contested look and misses. Then White calls timeout—with 1.7 seconds left.

Game over.

White even admitted postgame she should have called it earlier. That’s nice. But it doesn’t help you in the standings.

The Numbers Behind the Ugly

Kelsey Mitchell: 7-of-15, 24 points. Took the final shot.
Sophie Cunningham: 5-of-10, 14 points.
Aaliyah Boston: 5-of-10, 14 points—despite spending the night in handcuffs courtesy of Li Yueru and the officials.
Natasha Howard: 12 points, 12 boards.
Chloe Bibby: 11 points in 12 minutes—and benched.

And then there’s Lexie Hull: 25 minutes, seven rebounds, three assists… and zero points. I like Hull, but you can’t have that kind of production gap in a tight game.

The Bigger Problem

This isn’t just about one game. It’s a pattern. The Fever play down to their competition. They get embarrassed after halftime. They bench their hottest shooters. They mismanage the clock.

Four of their wins this season are against a horrible Chicago Sky team. Strip those out, and this “contender” is sitting under .500.

You want to be a championship team? You can’t drop games to the Valkyries twice. You can’t let the Sparks beat you twice. You can’t no-show against the Mercury.

The Coaching Reality

Look, Stephanie White’s not a bad basketball mind. But she is absolutely the wrong coach for this team right now.

Her pace is slow. Her offense is predictable. Her rotations defy logic. And she treats the “hot hand” like it’s a threat instead of a weapon.

And yes—this is the same coach who ran Vanderbilt into the ground, losing her best players to transfer. That’s not a coincidence.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Caitlin Clark is supposed to be back in late August—maybe against Minnesota, maybe Seattle. But here’s the cold truth: she’s not fixing bad officiating. She’s not fixing a coach who benches shooters and burns timeouts with 1.7 seconds left.

The Fever have the talent to win playoff games. But talent doesn’t matter when you’re losing to nine-win teams at home and gifting them 27 points off turnovers.

Final Score: Dallas 81, Indiana 80.
The refs set the table. Stephanie White served the loss.