Fever earn eighth straight victory

From combined dispatches

FEVER 78, DREAM 74: Just when it looked like Indiana’s winning streak was in jeopardy, Tammy Sutton-Brown took over.

Indiana’s center scored seven of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Fever past Atlanta on Sunday in Indianapolis for their franchise-best eighth straight victory.

Sutton-Brown went 7-for-14 from the field, made all eight of her free throws and grabbed nine rebounds for the Fever (8-2), who avenged a season-opening loss to Atlanta to remain the WNBA’s best team.

“Tammy has been playing phenomenal the last couple games, not just tonight,” said Indiana forward Tamika Catchings, who added 19 points, nine rebounds and six steals. “It seems like she’s getting fire in her. She needs to play like that every game.”

Trailing by one entering the fourth quarter, Indiana went on an 8-0 run to take a 66-59 lead. Sutton-Brown scored seven of the points, including an acrobatic shot while falling.

“If she plays like that, it takes pressure off everybody,” Catchings said. “When she does her job down low, she’s able to get easy baskets for herself and the rest of the team.”

Atlanta, which held a five-point lead in the third quarter, got within 76-74 on Angel McCoughtry’s layup with 19 seconds left. Following Tully Bevilaqua’s free throw, however, Jennifer Lacy’s 3-pointer came up short.

“We never got rattled,” Indiana coach Lin Dunn said. “In crunch time, our defense stepped up.”

SUN 95, SHOCK 92 (OT): Erin Phillips scored six of her 19 points in overtime, leading Connecticut to a victory over Detroit in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Sandrine Gruda, playing her first game of the season after representing France in the European championships, had a career-high 23 points for the Sun (5-4).

Detroit, which lost star Deanna Nolan to a pulled hamstring in the third quarter, fell to 2-7. Katie Smith had 28 points, and rookie Shavonte Zellous added 20.

Smith’s 3-pointer put Detroit ahead 79-77 in the final minute of regulation, but Lindsey Whalen forced overtime with a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining.