The Phoenix Mercury were yet again victorious against a short-handed Indiana Fever team after defeating them 85-79 on Tuesday. This win put them in a three-way tie for the second seed along with the Las Vegas Aces and Atlanta Dream going into the final week of the regular season. The Mercury took two out of three games against the Fever, losing one time to them on the road. The Fever squeaked out a tight win over the Mercury 107-101 despite star player Caitlin Clark being out due to an injury. They absolutely dominated the Fever in their second meeting back on August 7, winning 95-60 when the Fever faced two season-ending injuries to Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson in the game.
Analyzing both of these teams closely, one realizes that the names on their rosters and coaching staff are very familiar with each other. Fever head coach Stephanie White coached both Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner while they were members of the Connecticut Sun. Bonner eventually signed with the Fever during the offseason, but the fit didn’t work out. She, of course, eventually landed in Phoenix not long after. Sophie Cunningham, now a member of the Fever, also played for the Mercury after being drafted by them in 2019 out of Missouri. Due to that familiarity, Alyssa Thomas and the Mercury were well prepared to face the Fever.
Thomas is having one of the strongest seasons of her career and is a legit candidate for the league's MVP candidacy. Following their most recent win over the Fever on Tuesday night, both Thomas and Bonner provided some eye-opening information in their postgame presser when she was asked if she had an advantage playing against White since she had been her coach previously.
“It's a huge advantage. Like you said, we played, what, two years [under White]? Everything is pretty much the same stuff. Defense, offense," Thomas said.
Alyssa Thomas told me succinctly how much of an advantage it is playing against Stephanie White’s scheme.
— Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) September 3, 2025
“We know everything they’re about to do.” pic.twitter.com/tBq2TEP41o
Stephanie White really hasn’t had a chance to establish a new system with a depleted roster
The response may concern some in Fever nation because it shows that perhaps White's schemes are predictable. How a coach's 'style' is labeled isn't necessarily something that changes. How they prepare for each individual team on their schedule, however, is. White has proven that her in-game preparations and adjustments are effective. The Fever have come back from significant deficits this season, and it is also really difficult to thoroughly examine the Fever under a microscope given the depletion of their roster due to injuries: they've literally lost half their team this season and that makes it difficult to implement a new system tailored to the talent on the roster.
But Thomas' claim made it very clear that playing against White created an advantage for the Mercury. "We know everything they're about to do," Thomas added.
This can create a problem for the Fever if they have to meet Phoenix in the postseason. They clearly haven't fared well against them in the regular season. If this is to happen, Thomas just challenged the Fever to change up their schemes and make their play less predictable. But this is a problem for another time, as the Fever are still fighting for their playoff lives with just two games left in the regular season. Most WNBA teams in the league should have an edge over each other given the fact that they all faced each other multiple times at this point in the year, making this final playoff push even more intriguing.