Locker Room ERUPTS: Boston & Chloe Bibby Call Out Stephanie White’s Coaching in Fever Collapse

The Indiana Fever’s heartbreaking 81–80 loss to the Dallas Wings wasn’t just another close defeat — it was a glaring indictment of head coach Stephanie White’s leadership, and frustration inside the locker room is starting to boil over.

What should have been a routine home win against one of the league’s weakest teams turned into another showcase of poor adjustments, questionable rotations, and an alarming lack of accountability.

The Collapse That Shouldn’t Have Happened

Indiana entered the game as heavy favorites. Dallas, coming in with just eight wins on the season, trailed by 14 points before unleashing a stunning 21–3 third-quarter run. The Fever’s inability to respond was shocking — and for many, inexcusable.

Fans pointed to refereeing blunders, but the truth was more obvious: Indiana looked unprepared and outcoached. While Dallas ramped up its defensive intensity, White failed to call timely timeouts or make the adjustments necessary to stop the bleeding.

“It’s not just the players,” one frustrated Fever supporter vented. “That’s on the coach.”

Chloe Bibby Sparks — Then Sits

One of the most baffling decisions of the night came with Chloe Bibby, who drilled three triples in the first half and was easily Indiana’s hottest hand. Instead of riding the momentum, White cut Bibby’s minutes in the second half, effectively silencing one of the Fever’s few consistent offensive sparks.

“It’s the kind of rotation decision that makes you wonder if the coach is even watching the same game,” one analyst remarked.

Aaliyah Boston Outmuscled in the Paint

Even Aaliyah Boston, the franchise cornerstone, struggled under White’s system. Dallas backup center Li Yueru bullied Boston inside, dropping 20 points and exposing a defensive scheme that failed to make any adjustments. For a coach heralded as a defensive specialist, the lack of response was glaring.

Boston finished with 14 points and five rebounds, but the damage had already been done.

The Postgame Excuses

After the game, White once again dodged responsibility. She cited turnovers, injuries at the guard position, and defensive lapses — everything except her own decisions.

When asked directly about the collapse, White responded:

“I didn’t think our attention to detail on defense was very good. They got loose for some easy ones. We started fouling, turning the ball over… our group did some uncharacteristic things with the ball in our hands.”

But critics argue there was nothing “uncharacteristic” about it — these have been season-long issues that coaching has failed to address.

A Pattern Too Familiar

This isn’t an isolated incident. The Fever have repeatedly crumbled in the third quarter against beatable teams, including Chicago, Atlanta, and now Dallas. The lack of preparation and adjustments has become a defining feature of White’s tenure.

And the final timeout fiasco summed it all up. Down one point with a chance to win, White waited until just 1.7 seconds remained before calling timeout, leaving no time to design or execute a real play. Kelsey Mitchell was forced into a desperate, contested shot — a prayer that had no chance.

That’s not bad luck. That’s bad coaching.

What’s Next for Indiana?

The Fever’s issues go beyond injuries or officiating. This is a coaching problem. White’s refusal to take accountability, her questionable rotations, and her repeated failure to make in-game adjustments have turned winnable games into devastating losses.

For a young roster headlined by Caitlin Clark and Aaliyah Boston, the consequences are bigger than the standings. These repeated collapses risk instilling bad habits, draining confidence, and stunting the development of players who should be leading Indiana into a brighter future.

Until the Fever front office addresses the elephant in the room — Stephanie White’s coaching — Indiana will remain stuck in the same frustrating cycle.

The players deserve better. The fans deserve better. And if things don’t change soon, the Fever’s season will be remembered less for its potential and more for the opportunities wasted from the sideline.

Sophie Cunningham injury: Stephanie White gives latest, reacts to controversial collision

Sophie Cunningham was the latest player for the Indiana Fever to go down with an injury on Sunday. That caused plenty of concern for Stephanie White in the moment and how she’s going to prepare her team to handle another absence over this week.

White reacted to Cunningham’s injury during her postgame presser following the 99-93 OT win for the Fever this afternoon. She knew it wasn’t good in losing Cunningham, also because of the severity of the injury in the moment, but also that Indiana had no time to dwell on it with two and a half quarters to go in an important game earlier today

“I’m like, ‘Holy s***’” said White. “I mean, you know, especially the way that she fell and, you know, how she was holding herself, how much pain she was in, you know, at the time? It’s like, crap.”

“You go down there, you see her and it’s like, okay, just wanting her to calm down and be able to regroup. And then it turns to problem-solving, alright. It’s how we put ourselves in position to win,” White said. “What do we need to do? You know, I think maybe that’s how I survive is going straight to problem-solving. But, you know, again, this group is just, they’re special and I’m thankful for it.”

Cunningham had her right knee rolled up on as she came over to play defense on Bria Hartley. She went down, grabbed for that knee in pain, and would soon be helped off the court, exiting with ten minutes played having scored no points but posting a rebound and turnover in the starting lineup.

Now, Cunningham, set to go tomorrow for an MRI, joins Caitlin Clark (groin), who hasn’t played in a month and in just over a third of their games this season, as well as Aari McDonald (broken bone in foot) and Sydney Colson (Torn ACL) on the Fevers’ injury report.

Still, Indiana was able to rally today even with all those players out. They were down as much as 21 points but mounted the second-half comeback to get it to overtime and eventually take it by six over the Sun, as all of their starters besides Cunningham scored 14-plus points led by Kelsey Mitchell with 38 points (50% FG, 62.5% 3PT), six assists, and two steals.

With nine games left in the regular season, Indiana (19-16), who are still a 2.5-game edge to be in the playoffs, will have this whole work week without a game until they take the floor again on Friday night. That’ll give the Fever a much-needed rest and reset before their final games of the season, six of which come against teams in the playoffs currently and three against the top team in the league in the Minnesota Lynx (28-5), to try and stay in the postseason.

“It’s huge. I mean, I think, when you look at some of the standings? We’ve played a game or two games more than anybody else. We’re kind of front-loaded in some of the things that we did. You know, we need the rest, we need the recovery.

We have players that have played a lot of heavy minutes, so we need that and we also need time to kind of re-calibrate,” said White. “It was a quick turnaround to figure out how we’re going to play without, you know, Aari and Syd. And now we have to figure out how we’re going to play without Sophie. And we’ve got to figure out who can play in certain roles, what are our substitution patterns going to be, what kind of wrinkles we can throw out there?”

“You know, it doesn’t get easier, and I think we come back and have Minnesota twice, right. So, it’s really good mentally, physically, and emotionally for us and then it gives us practice time, which we’re going to need,” White said.