INDIANAPOLIS -- Kelsey Mitchell calmly dribbled the ball up the left side of the court before abruptly pulling up for a 3-point attempt Saturday night against the New York Liberty. Breanna Stewart reacted late and hit Mitchell in the head, sending her sprawling to the floor at the feet of fans sitting in the front row. As she went crashing down, the ball splashed through the net to set up a four-point play.
The stoic four-time All-Star actually cracked a smile as teammates mobbed her in celebration.
Mitchell finished with a season-high 33 points as she became the seventh player in WNBA history with 10 consecutive 20-point games, and she accomplished it with 30-point efforts on back-to-back nights. She is the second player in Indiana Fever franchise history to post back-to-back 30-point games.
The Fever rebounded from a 13-point deficit to run away with a 108-88 victory inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. That's the third-largest win in franchise history after trailing by double digits.
"Quiet dominance is a good word," Mitchell said. "I'm not even a talker. For me, it's about the game, man. [If] we ain't talking about anything that got to do with basketball, then we ain't talking at all. That's just my mentality. I don't have time to be talking to nobody and celebrating and stuff like that, man."
Teammate Aliyah Boston added: "Kelsey's insane. She gets tough shots like that, and she gets up and she's like calm, cool, collected."
Mitchell was somewhat of an afterthought Monday night despite scoring 30 and shooting 52% from the field. That happens only when your backcourt mate is named Caitlin Clark and she becomes the first player in league history to record 45 points and 10 assists in a game.
No worries because Saturday was Mitchell's turn to put the statisticians to work as she shot 71.4% from the floor and knocked down four triples. She outscored the Liberty herself in the third quarter 14-12 as the Fever rallied with a 30-12 quarter. Mitchell now has four 30-point games this season to tie a franchise record.
Mitchell and Clark (17 points, 7 assists) are the first duo in WNBA history to each score 60-plus points in a two-game span.
Boston finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while Sophie Cunningham and Tyasha Harris both added 11 points off the bench. Indiana shot 53.6% from the field as a team.
"She's just a ballplayer," Fever coach Stephanie White said of Mitchell. "She just, she's a hooper. She just wants to play. She doesn't care. She doesn't care about the numbers. She doesn't care about anything but winning, and that's just who she is."
On the other end of the floor, the Liberty's struggles continued. They have lost four straight and eight of 10 regular-season games. New York has been dealing with injuries, but this is an organization with championship aspirations that sits with a 13-12 record and in seventh place in the standings.
The Liberty started fast and led 15-4 in the first quarter and 49-45 at halftime, but the defense collapsed in the second half as 63 points were the most the Fever have scored in any half this season. That was also the first time New York has allowed 100 points in a game this season.
Stewart scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Marine Johannes and Sabrina Ionescu added 12 points apiece.
"Have some kind of chip on our shoulder or fight behind us," Stewart said. "We don't like where we're at right now, but we are. We're f---ing there.
"We're in the trenches, and we can either keep sinking or we can dig ourselves out."
Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said there's no waiting for the All-Star break to regroup. There has to be a sense of urgency now.
"Like Stewie said, we're present. We understand these two games coming up are super important for us," DeMarco said.