Former Hoosier Grace Berger's Playing Time Has Doubled For Indiana Fever

Indiana women's basketball alumna Grace Berger has doubled her playing time for the Indiana Fever. She went from not playing at all in the season opener to logging more than 16 minutes in the Fever's fifth game of the season on Sunday.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana women's basketball alumna Grace Berger has seen a quick increase in her playing time with the Indiana Fever.

The Fever are five games into their regular season, and the guard logged her highest playing time of 16:19 minutes in the 84-80 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Berger scored two points and had a team-high four assists tied with veteran guard Victoria Vivians. 

The increased minutes is a huge jump from the Fever's season opener where Berger didn't play at all despite Hoosier fans chanting 'we want Grace' complete with their cream and crimson gear. The next matchup versus the New York Liberty on the road, Berger logged just above three minutes in the 90-73 loss scoring her first WNBA bucket alongside one assist and one steal. This was Indiana's worst loss of the season.

Since then, the Fever have been on the cusp of winning and even defeated the Atlanta Dream 90-87 on Sunday, May 28 where Berger played just under seven minutes for three points off a crazy bucket for the and-1. 

Two days later, Berger played just above six minutes and totaled a bucket plus one assist in the three-point loss against the Connecticut Sun. That led Berger to the Fever's most recent game and highest playing time to date. First year head coach Christie Sides promised Berger would be a good WNBA player and that she would get her time. 

Sides said she even put Berger in more in the preseason games because she could hear Hoosier fans chanting for their former star. After the season opener, Berger said she's been on the bench before in her early career as a Hoosier and when she played for USA Basketball. She knows her role and has been putting up extra shots in the gym so that when her number's called, it's back to greatness. 

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