LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Mitchell is in unfamiliar territory. The first round against Atlanta was her first time winning a postseason game, let alone a postseason series, in her eight-season WNBA career. Despite being a top-10 scorer for each of the last six seasons, she’s likely headed for her first All-WNBA selection, and her first time finishi ng in the top five of the MVP vote. Sunday’s Game 1 victory in the WNBA semifinals — her first trip to this stage of the playoffs — was her first time winnin
The first round against Atlanta was her first time winning a postseason game, let alone a postseason series, in her eight-season WNBA career. Despite being a top-10 scorer for each of the last six seasons, she’s likely headed for her first All-WNBA selection, and her first time finishi
ng in the top five of the MVP vote. Sunday’s Game 1 victory in the WNBA semifinals — her first trip to this stage of the playoffs — was her first time winning a game in Las Vegas in her career.
But Mitchell navigates every unique situation with calm and an excellence that belies her inexperience. As the Indiana Fever continue to defy the odds and extend their postseason run, meeting every milestone for the first time, Mitchell has taken the team on her back. She may not know this stage, but she knows basketball, and that’s enough to power through the new challenges.
Mitchell’s 34 points against the Aces led the Fever to an 89-73 win in the first game of the semifinals. The veteran was the most unstoppable player on a court that included four-time MVP A’ja Wilson using her speed and tough shotmaking ability to give the Aces’ a 1-0 advantage. Mitchell lived in the paint and at the line. The Aces had no answers for her downhill attacking, and their defensive rotation sprung gaps as a result.
“Kelsey Mitchell has been through the worst parts of this franchise, and she deserves to go through the best,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said. “And she’s rising to the challenge.”
Kelsey. Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/SMxbtsTknB
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) September 21, 2025
To get to this latest high, Mitchell had to rescue the Fever from their lowest depths. She has persevered through five head coaches, six losing seasons and had to play multiple seasons in different arenas due to Gainbridge Fieldhouse renovations, remaining committed to a franchise that didn’t give her much reason to. The only saving grace of that wasteland in Indiana history was Mitchell’s individual production.
The arrival of Caitlin Clark in 2024 (and Aliyah Boston the year before) finally shone a deserved spotlight on Mitchell’s game. She earned her first All-Star berth in Boston’s rookie season and made the playoffs in Clark’s first season. And for the first time in 2025, Mitchell entered the season on a team with the opportunity to contend for a WNBA title.
But even that optimism was short-lived, as Indiana suffered a spate of injuries that pushed the team down in the standings. The nadir of the Fever season came on Aug. 17. Ten days after Indiana lost Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson for the year, while the team was still navigating the absence of Clark (though she hadn’t officially been shut down for 2025), Sophie Cunningham hurt her knee against Connecticut, and it was immediately clear the injury was bad. The Fever trailed the Sun, who were 6-26 at the time, by 19 at halftime.
It fell to Mitchell to rally the troops.
She scored 24 points after halftime to lead Indiana back from 21 down, its largest comeback in franchise history, totaling a career-best 38 points in the process.
It proved to be a positive turning point for the Fever. While the outside world started to count Indiana out with the mounting pile of injuries, the team realized its internal strength.
“We could have given up and we didn’t,” Mitchell said. “(White) felt that we didn’t give up, and I think any coach that’s leading people knows what that means, and so I think she looked at our group like, damn, I got a different respect for y’all.”
Mitchell’s teammates have been singing her praises throughout the season. Her media availability Saturday was interrupted multiple times by Clark and Cunningham, among others, yelling “Mitchell for MVP!” and “Vote Mitchell!” Odyssey Sims walked by Mitchell’s postgame interviews on Sunday and interjected: “I love you Kelsey, my MVP.”
The rest of the league is coming around to Mitchell’s impact. Mitchell was at the top of Las Vegas’ scouting report, with multiple players and Aces coach Becky Hammon highlighting Mitchell’s pace in the halfcourt and in transition.
The adulation doesn’t come naturally to Mitchell. A few years ago, she wrote a list of times she thought she would quit, coaches who had counted her out, and media outlets who didn’t want to talk to her. It’s a different experience to be in demand for reporters and the center of attention — at least on the court — for a team in the WNBA’s final four.
“It’s new, it’s fresh,” Mitchell said. “I can say that where we started and where we’re at. I don’t know if anybody thought we were here, but it’s an unbelievable experience to be able to do it with these girls and do it with this coaching staff.”
The stakes are only getting bigger. Two wins — and a team filled with multi-time champions — stand between the Fever and a trip to the WNBA Finals. Indiana could have an opportunity to close out this series at home, another experience Mitchell has never been a part of.
Mitchell is remaining even-keeled in the process. She let herself celebrate beating the Atlanta Dream win in the first round only for the duration of the flight home — but no longer. She prepared for Sunday’s game against the Aces like she would any other. She doesn’t know how to change her preparations at this time of the year.
It’s leading to some of the best basketball of her career in the longest season of her career, one that will extend as long as Mitchell can take it.
“My journey and the way I have it was positioned for me,” Mitchell said. “Everything that I had to go through, it was big for me, because I can enjoy this moment a little bit more.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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