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A new era: Indiana Fever turn the page with loaded rookie draft class

L-R: NaLyssa Smith, Queen Egbo, Lexie Hull, Emily Engstler and Destanni Henderson (front) pose for a photoshoot during the Fever’s media day. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)

Editor’s Note: To close out the year, we are recognizing our best stories of 2022. This is the third in that series, originally published on May 4. The other stories feature the NWSL’s journey to a historic CBA and Naomi Girma’s rise to stardom.

There was a different kind of energy in Gainbridge Fieldhouse during the Indiana Fever’s media day last Wednesday. The atmosphere was relaxed, and loud music, laughter and the sweet anticipation of things to come filled the air.

The WNBA season tips off this Friday, and with it, the Fever embark on a new rebuilding phase in the franchise’s 22-year history. Indiana finished last season with the worst record in the league, winning only six games. After making the playoffs every year from 2005-16, the Fever haven’t had a winning season since 2015 and have missed the last five postseasons, the longest active drought in the WNBA.

This season, the Fever are counting on their youth to help turn the franchise around. With four selections in the first round of the WNBA Draft, the most a team has ever made, Indiana infused its roster with elite college-level talent: NaLyssa Smith, Emily Engstler, Lexie Hull and Queen Egbo. They then scooped up the star of the NCAA championship game, South Carolina point guard Destanni Henderson, in the second round.

“We’re all a group of talented, young women,” Egbo says. “We bring a lot to the game and we know what we’re capable of doing.”

“I’m not even gonna lie, [we] just want to do better than they did last year” adds Egbo’s former Baylor teammate, NaLyssa Smith. “I mean, we have a great group of people that can help get a lot further than they did last year and potentially make a playoff run.”

***

When Lin Dunn first returned to the Fever in mid-February to take over as interim general manager after Tamika Catchings stepped down, she didn’t realize how different the role would be from coaching.

“It’s challenging,” she says. “I think I said this when I took the job — I wouldn’t have done this anywhere else. I have a longtime relationship with the Fever, Pacers Sports and Entertainment, and the connections I have with those people. So when they asked me to help, there was no way I could say no. But now I’m finding the role very challenging, very interesting.”

Dunn, a 50-year coaching veteran who won a WNBA championship during her prior tenure with the Fever from 2004-14, was all in on the opportunity to rebuild the franchise. She made initial changes during free agency, waiving Kysre Gondrezick (the fourth overall pick in 2020) and trading Teaira McCown (third overall in 2019) to the Dallas Wings. Then, Dunn got to work on preparing for the draft. For two months, she focused on the best players available and didn’t get too caught up on position — though it was obvious Indiana needed immediate frontcourt help.

“Of course, we were all over researching Rhyne Howard and NaLyssa Smith, because we agreed with the media that those were the two best picks in the draft,” Dunn says. “We spent time on them because we knew we were going to get one of them.”

As expected, once the Atlanta Dream took Howard with the first pick in the draft, Indiana scooped up Smith with the second.

“I was excited to get drafted to the Fever,” Smith says. “Just because I knew it was a franchise that needed people that could help them. And I knew I could come to this [team] and help it.”

After Smith, Indiana — thanks to multiple offseason trades — had three more first-round draft picks at its disposal. They discussed the next best available players at four and at six, and then looked to fill other holes on the roster as the draft went on. Engstler, the Louisville standout forward who does a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor, was the next pick at four. Then came Stanford’s sharpshooter, Hull, at six. And when media pundits and analysts opined that the pick may have been a reach, Dunn guffawed.

Right after she made the selection, she says, her phone buzzed with a text from another team asking what she wanted for Hull. If the Fever hadn’t grabbed Hull at six, Dunn believes she would have been off the board by the time they picked again at 10.

“So, obviously I made the right decision or we would have lost her,” Dunn says. “I don’t really care what the pundits or the media think. I care about what I think we need, and Lexie is exactly what we needed.”

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Smith and Egbo have reunited on the Fever after playing all four years together at Baylor. (PSE/Matt Kryger)

Egbo (10th pick) and Henderson (20th pick) rounded out the Fever’s first- and second-round class. Dunn walked away from draft night more than content with the results, emphasizing that the Fever not only got the players they wanted, but also the players who can come in and make an immediate impact.

“If you’ve done any research on our roster, these people are gonna play,” Dunn says. “It’s not like some of the other teams that are drafting people to play backup roles or limited minute roles. We drafted people to play. And so, even though we were the last-place team, if I was a prospect, I’d want to go to Indiana because I want to play.”

***

After commissioner Cathy Engelbert called Engstler’s name for Indiana, Smith sent her a text right away. And as Engstler made her way through the media gauntlet on the draft floor in New York City, she kept a close eye on the stage.

“I saw Lexie get drafted and I was like, ‘Oh snap!’ Like, Stanford, Baylor, Louisville, South Carolina. These are the top, top players you can get,” Engstler says, beaming. “I had just played against Destanni, and she was killing it in the tournament. [I’m] super excited to get a chance to play with her. I knew Queen and ‘Lyss, so I was excited to get to see Queen again. So, old friendships, making new friends, and just great people.”

The rigors of a WNBA training camp are challenging, especially for rookies. The women’s college basketball season is long, and for teams that make it far into the NCAA Tournament, it’s even longer. For players like Engstler, Hull and Henderson, whose teams competed in the Final Four in Minneapolis, they had just over a week to transition from March Madness, to the draft and to a whole new city with a fresh set of teammates. That’s why, for this group, entering the next phase of their basketball careers together is unique.

“I don’t think a lot of players get that opportunity, to really get drafted with a bunch of other draftees and kind of restart with such a young group,” Engstler says. “People might think that’s an issue, but I think that’s going to set us apart from a lot of teams. We’re gonna be fast, eager to learn and be educated, and I think that’s exactly what we’ve been doing since we’ve gotten here.”

That sentiment is shared among the whole draft class. Each rookie is not only excited to be in Indiana and to be a part of the rebuild, but they are also all relishing the opportunity to do it together.

“I feel like we all bring something different, but we all mesh together really well,” Egbo says.

“Lexie can shoot the s–t out of the ball. So can ‘Lyss. They’re amazing scorers. You have Emily who can do a little bit of everything. I take a lot of pride in defense and taking that defensive game to the floor. And Destanni’s just a true point guard. She looks to get other people open, she looks to make the right play and the right read, and she’s very selfless.”

“We can rely on each other coming from the collegiate level, and just all learning and growing at the same time,” adds Henderson. “Joining all of our styles of play together, being able to play a little bit freely, just making it happen on and off the court, whatever the case may be.”

The talent level of the Fever’s rookie class is off the charts. But chemistry is also an important part of any roster, and this core group seems to have plenty of it. As they prepare for their season opener against the Washington Mystics on Friday, the Fever have had very little downtime during the three-week preseason, but the rookies have tried to bring levity to the locker room and team meals.

“I love being around them,” Egbo says. “They always make me laugh. I could be sad, I could be mad, and once they come around, it’s just nothing but giggles. They’re all so funny. We just gel really well together.”

“It’s been awesome. We’ve hung out outside of basketball and everyone’s just great people, so it’s a great place to be, great people to be around and I’m excited for the next few months,” Hull adds.

The immediate goal for this group is to win more than six games. It’s something they all agree on, but they also don’t want to just stop there.

“All of the rookies and I were talking and we’ve never been on a losing team,” Hull says. “We want to win and win games — as many of those as we can, that’s our goal. And if we can make the playoffs, that’d be great.”

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Engstler, Henderson and Hull were drafted to the Indiana a week after playing in the Final Four with their college teams. (PSE/Matt Kryger)

There’s a lot of talk of surprising people, moving up in the standings, making the playoffs and even putting together a championship run. The latter might seem like a stretch for a young team with so many rookies, and no one expects it to happen overnight, least of all Dunn.

Between Dunn, 74, and head coach Marianne Stanley, in her 21st year coaching in the WNBA, the Fever are not focused on wins this season as much as they are on marked improvement in certain areas — notably hitting more 3s, increasing their 3-point percentage and playing better defense.

“What we’re gonna do, we’re gonna play these young players and we’re gonna let them play through their mistakes and we’re gonna let them grow up,” Dunn says. “Just like a child, they’re gonna crawl and walk and run. And hopefully by the end of the season, they will have continued to get better and realize what it takes to be a pro.”

Regardless of where Indiana ends up in the standings at the end of the season, the organization is confident in the foundation it’s building. After all, there’s never been a rookie draft class quite like this before.

“We’re just going to come in and make the best of it, showcase ourselves and show people the great things we can do,” Henderson says. “We can lean on each other when things get hard, ask questions and grow together.”

Lyndsey D’Arcangelo is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports, covering the WNBA and college basketball. She also contributes to The Athletic and is the co-author of “Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League.” Follow Lyndsey on Twitter @darcangel21.

Amanda Anisimova Advances to 2025 Wimbledon Final by Ousting No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka

US tennis star Amanda Anisimova reacts to her 2025 Wimbledon semifinal win over Aryna Sabalenka.
With her 2025 Wimbledon semifinal win, Anisimova reached her first career Grand Slam final. (Tim Clayton/Getty Images)

US tennis star and world No. 12 Amanda Anisimova continued her breakthrough 2025 Wimbledon run on Thursday, taking down No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to punch a ticket to her first career Grand Slam final.

"This doesn't feel real right now," Anisimova said after winning the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 semifinal thriller. "I don't know how I pulled it out."

"It was such a rollercoaster match," the 23-year-old told ESPN. "[Sabalenka] is such a tough competitor, and I really had to give it my all to fight there to get the win."

As the first US player to reach a Wimbledon final since Serena Williams in 2019 — and the youngest from the US since Williams' 2004 run — Anisimova's meteoric 2025 rise comes just 18 months after she took an extended mental health break from tennis.

"A lot of people told me that you would never make it to the top again if you take so much time away from the game," she said. "So just me being able to prove that you can get back to the top if you prioritize yourself, that's been incredibly special to me."

Anisimova's semifinal win also continues a unique pattern for her home country, as Saturday's championship match is now the fourth straight Grand Slam final to feature a US player — a streak dating back to No. 3 Jessica Pegula's 2024 US Open championship appearance.

Even more, should Anisimova emerge victorious on Saturday, she'll join 2025 Australian Open champion No. 8 Madison Keys and 2025 French Open winner No. 2 Coco Gauff in continuing a US sweep of this year's Grand Slams.

Anisimova to face Świątek in 2025 Wimbledon final

To do so, however, Anisimova will have to defeat five-time Grand Slam winner and world No. 4 Iga Świątek in what will be the pair's first-ever senior-level match on Saturday.

Like Anisimova, the 24-year-old Polish phenom is on an unexpected Wimbledon run, as the London Slam's grass courts have historically hampered the clay-court specialist.

That said, Świątek dominated her Thursday semifinal against Switzerland's No. 35 Belinda Bencic, booking her spot in Saturday's title match in two quick 6-2, 6-0 sets.

"Tennis keeps surprising me," she said after the match. "I thought I had experienced everything on the court, but I hadn't experienced playing well on grass. That's the first time."

"Honestly, I never even dreamt that it was possible for me to play the [Wimbledon] finals, so I'm just super excited and proud of myself," Świątek added.

As for Anisimova, she's taking her championship match against the decorated Świątek in stride.

"I'm sure it'll be an amazing match. Getting to compete against an unbelievable player again is going to be super special," said the rising US star.

"Obviously I haven't been in a Grand Slam final before, but I've experienced a lot of moments similar and a lot of high-stakes matches," Anisimova noted. "I'm just gonna go out and enjoy every moment and try to not think about what’s on the line."

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon championship match

With this year's tournament guaranteed to crown a first-time Wimbledon champion, Anisimova will battle Świątek for the London Slam's trophy at 11 AM ET on Saturday.

The final will air live on ESPN.

USWNT Legend Tobin Heath Hangs Up Her Boots, Officially Announces Retirement

USWNT star Tobin Heath triumphantly yells while holding the 2019 World Cup after winning the final.
Heath retires as a two-time World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. (Daniela Porcelli/Getty Images)

Legendary USWNT attacker Tobin Heath officially announced her retirement from soccer on Thursday, nearly three years after playing her final professional match.

"Over New Year's, I actually came to the full acceptance that I wasn't going to be playing," the 37-year-old explained on her podcast, The RE-CAP Show.

In her 13 years with the senior national team, Heath — widely regarded as one of the most technical players in US history — earned two World Cup titles (2015, 2019) and three Olympic medals (gold in 2008 and 2012, and bronze in 2021).

Across her 181 USWNT caps, the 2016 US Soccer Athlete of the Year logged 36 goals and 42 assists, making her final appearance for the States on October 26th, 2021.

At the club level, Heath spent seven seasons with the Portland Thorns, helping the team to NWSL Championships in 2013 and 2017, as well as the 2016 NWSL Shield.

While her career also included European stints with the Première Ligue's PSG as well as WSL sides Manchester United and Arsenal, Heath ended her pro run with the 2022 NWSL Shield-winning Seattle Reign, playing what would be her final soccer match on August 14th of that year.

Injury ends Heath's soccer career

The end of Heath's career is not what the creative, nutmegging winger anticipated.

"I thought I was literally going to be peeled off the field," Heath told The Athletic on Wednesday.

However, a 2022 serious left knee injury left Heath unable to play soccer — even at a casual level — ultimately forcing her retirement.

"I tried f---ing everything to get back, I spent tens of thousands of dollars and [had] two surgeries, one crazy surgery," Heath said on her podcast. "And the whole time I believed I was going to get back."

"Football is a 360-degree sport, and I can't do it," she told The Athletic. "So that part is the hardest part. The actual playing of soccer is gone."

USWNT icon Tobin Heath speaks at a 2024 Grassroot Soccer event.
In her three years off the pitch, Heath is still elevating women's soccer. (Valerie Terranova/Getty Images)

Heath still working to lift up women's soccer in retirement

Despite coming to terms with the end of her on-pitch career, Heath isn't leaving the world of soccer anytime soon, helping lead the newly launched World Sevens Football and joining FIFA's technical study group for the men's Club World Cup.

Elevating football — particularly the women's game — is a pursuit that began for Heath with the Portland Thorns.

"[Portland] showed what women's sports could be," she explained. "I was dreaming of the world that I wanted to create."

The 2019 World Cup run then solidified that mission, with the USWNT adding a fourth star to their crest while also facing a pressure-cooker of expectations amid political tension and a contentious fight for equal pay.

"You can't feel what we felt...and not believe that you're doing something so f---ing important for the world," said Heath.

"You feel that responsibility — and that's what it is — and you want to keep carrying that responsibility as far forward as you can."

Rising USWNT Star Mia Fishel Inks Record NWSL Contract with Seattle Reign

Forward Mia Fishel poses in a Seattle Reign jersey after signing with the NWSL club.
Fishel's multi-year deal with the Seattle Reign runs through 2029. (Seattle Reign FC/Jane Gershovich)

USWNT and Chelsea FC forward Mia Fishel is officially heading back to the States, with the Seattle Reign announcing that the 24-year-old signed with the NWSL club on Thursday.

The multi-year deal will see Fishel join Seattle through the 2029 season on a contract reportedly worth nearly $2.5 million — the largest cumulative deal in NWSL history.

"We're absolutely thrilled to bring Mia into our squad," said Seattle head coach Laura Harvey in a club statement. "Mia's ability to disrupt defenses, finish in different ways makes her a dangerous addition to our group."

"Mia is a player with tremendous upside — a goal-scorer with presence, creativity, and a drive to keep growing," added Reign GM Lesle Gallimore.

Notably, though the Orlando Pride originally drafted the San Diego product and UCLA alum in 2022, this week's move will see Fishel make her domestic debut, with the young talent opting to start her pro career in Mexico.

In her single season with powerhouse Tigres UANL, Fishel notched 17 goals in 17 games to become the first foreign athlete to win the Liga MX Golden Boot, all while leading the team to a league championship.

Following her Liga MX success, Fishel signed with Chelsea, spending two seasons with the WSL champions — though a February 2024 ACL tear limited the young attacker's impact on both club and country over the last 16 months.

Nicknamed "Big Fish," the NWSL debutant has big plans for her upcoming lengthy tenure with Seattle.

"I knew coming to the States, I'm gonna be on a team for the long run," Fishel told reporters. "I wasn't expecting to just hop from team to team. Like, no, I want to put stakes in the ground. I want to eventually lead this team."

Indiana Fever Looks to Bounce Back Before 2025 WNBA All-Star Break

Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and Golden State Valkyries center Temi Fagbenle jump for the ball to start a 2025 WNBA game.
The Indiana Fever enter the weekend on a two-game losing streak. (Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This weekend's WNBA slate will see the No. 8 Indiana Fever aiming to right the ship, as the once-projected postseason contenders try to make a push prior to next weekend's 2025 All-Star break.

Despite seeing Caitlin Clark return from injury on Wednesday, the Fever will enter the weekend on a two-game losing streak.

"You should look yourself in the mirror and find ways you can get better, and then come back to practice tomorrow, and play again on Friday," Clark said after Indiana's 80-61 Wednesday loss to Golden State.

There's no immediate assist in the Fever's upcoming schedule, however, as they kick off the weekend against an Atlanta side that feeds on mismatches in the paint:

  • No. 4 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 8 Indiana Fever, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): The Dream can put any team in a blender with their size and stretch capabilities, and Indiana will need solid three-point shooting to upend Atlanta.
  • No. 6 Golden State Valkyries vs. No. 9 Las Vegas Aces, Saturday at 4 PM ET (CBS): The short-handed Aces will hope to pounce on Golden State's mercurial road form, as Las Vegas tries to keep climbing the standings following a middling season start.
  • No. 4 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 3 New York Liberty, Sunday at 3 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): An injury-hampered New York will try to hold on against the formidable Dream, as the reigning champion Liberty keep battling while waiting for starters to return.

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