Indiana Fever’s Erica Wheeler Stops by Indy Style after Winning WNBA All-Star Game MVP
Quite a story. Quite a journey.
Indiana Fever Point Guard Erica Wheeler comes into our Indy Style studios with a new title: the WNBA All-Star Game MVP (only the fifth undrafted player ever to play in All-Star Game; the first to be named All-Star MVP).
Erica joins Tracy to chat about the crowning moment Saturday and how she really felt when the crowd grew silent.
UNDRAFTED TO ALL-STAR MVP
- Her life and career journey now pretty well chronicled over the past week (rough streets of Miami; devotion to Mom; recruited to Rutgers; mom passed away to cancer after junior year; EW mostly withdrew during difficult senior year and fell off the radar for WNBA scouts … graduated in 2013 but undrafted … fought through two seasons in Puerto Rico, Turkey and Brazil and got a shot with Atlanta in WNBA in 2015 … played with both Atlanta and New York in first season, signed by Indiana before 2016 season and she’s been here ever since
- She owns Indiana’s record for career assists per game (4.0)
- Unheralded player having best season of career – 12.3 points and 5.8 assists per game … only player in WNBA to average 10+ points, 5+ assists and at least 40% 3-point shooting
- Recognized by WNBA coaches for her great season, voted as a reserve to her first All-Star Game (first undrafted player to debut in WNBA since 2003 and make an All-Star Game)
- Entered the game with 4:18 to play in first quarter … hit a 3-pointer on first possession … that was the first of SIX-IN-A-ROW … she didn’t miss until 7:00 remained in the second quarter and by then she had 18 points
- She finished with 25 points, 7 3-pointers (tied All-Star record) and 7 assists … she hit her 7th 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in the game to seal the win for her team (129-126 in what was the highest-scoring All-Star Game in WNBA history)
FEVER RESUME SCHEDULE
- Indiana is nursing a six-game losing streak heading into the final portion of the WNBA schedule
- Fever host Atlanta on Wednesday (7pm) and Minnesota on Saturday (7pm) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
- Goal remains to qualify for one of eight playoff spots … Fever currently is in 10th place with 13 games remaining
For Fever ticket information and a chance to see the MVP, visit FeverBasketball.com.