On Sunday Oct. 21, 2012, Tamika Catchings walked into Banker's Life Fieldhouse as a player who's won on every level except the WNBA. Catchings helped guide Stevenson High School to an Illinois State championship as a High School Sophomore. After a stellar High school career, she took her talents to the University of Tennessee to play for Legendary coach Pat Summit. Catchings would go on to have an All American career with one National Title in the 97-98 season. In 2001, the Indiana Fever drafted Tamika Catchings with the 3rd overall pick. Catchings has made an major impact on the WNBA game as the best all around player in the league. She can play on both ends of the floor and impact a game in a positive fashion. She won the WNBA Rookie of the year award in 2002. She is a 7x WNBA All-Star and 5x Defensive Player of the Year. These awards show the recognition she has received from her peers as one of the top players in the game. Catchings has also shined on the International stage by winning three Olympic Gold Medals. (2004, 2008, 2012) The one elusive title for Catchings has been The WNBA Championship. She came very close to winning back in 2009, but her Indiana Fever came up short losing to the Phoenix Mercury. The 2012 season had its ups and downs with the team ultimately getting hot at the right time. Catchings stepped into the stadium and took the " bull by the horns" approach in closing out the Minnesota Lynx. The Fever players put together a complete team effort in closing out the Lynx. The performance of Tamika Catchings stood out above the rest by posting MVP numbers: 25pts, 8 asst, 4 rebs, 3 blks, 1 stl
The Indiana Fever went on to beat the Minnesota Lynx 3 games to 1 with the final game score being 87-78. Catchings performance in the WNBA Finals won her the Most Valuable Player Award. (MVP) The Indiana Fever is a team that is fairly young. The task of defending their title will be difficult but with a savvy veteran like Tamika Catchings as your anchor, anything is possible.
Congratulations Tamika, you are the ultimate champion.
The championship that the Fever just won was well deserved, especially for Tamika Catchings. She's been through a lot in her career and to see her finally hoisting the that trophy up was a welcome site.
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