Fever celebrate WNBA title despite rain on their parade

• Rain canceled a downtown parade, but the Indiana Fever still celebrated with 3,000 fans
• Head coach Lin Dunn praised her players for their defense and fired up the crowd
• Tamika Catchings celebrated with her family including her father, former NBA player Harvey Catchings

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever stole hearts. Lin Dunn stole the show.

Not even unpredictable Indiana weather stole the joy from Tuesday's celebration of the Fever's first WNBA championship.

"Nothing's going to keep us down," Fever guard Briann January said.

Rain canceled a planned Downtown parade. So the Fever adjusted, just as they adjusted throughout a bumpy season featuring early defeats, an Olympic hiatus, injuries and near-elimination. The Fever defeated the Minnesota Lynx 87-78 Sunday night to win the best-of-five WNBA Finals 3-1.

About 3,000 fans, many wearing red, crowded into the entry pavilion of Bankers Life Fieldhouse to cheer and pay tribute to Indianapolis' newest heroines.

As with the season, it was all good in the end. After the rally, players posed for photos on steps of the float they were supposed to ride in the parade.

Dunn, the folksy Fever coach who looks like Aunt Bee but has some Bob Knight in her, thanked fans and delivered her own analysis of the playoffs.

"Minnesota, Connecticut and Atlanta had never seen defense like these guys play," Dunn said, motioning to her players. "And let me tell you what else we did those three series: Atlanta, Connecticut, Minnesota ... we kicked their ass on the boards."

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma represented the governor and had special reason to feel attachment to the team. Bosma's niece, Brittany Hollingsworth, was the Fever's equipment manager before taking another job before the playoffs.

U.S. Rep. Andre Carson gestured toward the players and said: "Not only are they America's next top models, they are WNBA champions!"

Celebration extended beyond Indianapolis to Australia, the home of Erin Phillips, who led the playoffs in 3-point accuracy by shooting 52 percent. She said she has heard from people she didn't know were following the series and also from Basketball Australia, which left her off the national team for the London Olympics.

"The parties in Adelaide haven't stopped," Phillips said. "They're going. They're going hard."

The Fever, who were founded in 2000, also reached the Finals in 2009 but lost to the Phoenix Mercury 3-2.

"My husband and I have been following them for several years, and I'm so happy they finally got their championship," said Stefanie Koning, 43, an Indianapolis Westsider. "I'm also happy the whole city finally seems to be behind them."

Another fan agreed.

"I have followed the Fever since their very first game in 2000," said Mary Helen Goode, 64, Northwestside Indianapolis. "I just wanted to come celebrate their best victory ever."

Cory Newman, 24, and his sister, Nikki Voelkel, 30, brought Voelkel's daughters Lila, 3, and Jones, 18 months, to the celebration from the Northeastside. Voelkel pointed to Lila as the reason they came.

"It's all her," Voelkel said. "She wants to be Katie Douglas when she grows up."

Douglas grew up in Indianapolis but had to watch as teammates secured the championship. An injury kept her sidelined after Oct. 11, and she divulged that the original diagnosis was that she would be out six to eight weeks.

She got onto the court for the final three seconds of the clinching Game 4. She said she will play overseas in Poland after her ankle heals.

"The outpouring of support has been tremendous and amazing," Douglas said.

Sharing the scene with Tamika Catchings were members of her family, notably one of her biggest — and youngest — fans.

Kolton, 2, is the son of Catchings' sister, Tauja. Tauja, a former college basketball star at Illinois has another son, Kanon, 7.

Kolton says, "Hey, that's Tamika Catchings," when he sees his aunt on television.

"Any time he sees the Fever logo, that says, 'Go Mika.' He gets a big kick out of it," Tauja said.

Catchings' father, Harvey, said watching his daughters' success exceeded any satisfaction from his own 11-year NBA career.

"And seeing Mika winning this championship is surely a blessing," said Harvey Catchings, who lost in the 1977 NBA Finals while a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The latest championship completed a rare collection by Catchings: high school state titles in both Illinois and Texas, NCAA (at Tennessee), three Olympic gold medals and now WNBA.

Catchings received congratulations from nearly everyone except President Barack Obama — "He had a debate," she said — and included tweets from Peyton Manning, LeBron James and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

"I got so many tweets and Facebook messages from so many people, I just try to respond back as much as I can," Catchings said. "It's been hard."

She won't stay in town long to soak it all in. Catchings said she leaves Nov. 6 for China to play in a league there. However, that season ends in February, allowing her rest before Fever training camp starts in May.

Although parity suggests it will be difficult for the Fever to win again in 2013 — there have been no repeat champions in the WNBA in a decade — Dunn told fans:

"We will do everything in our power to try to get you another one."

David Woods write for The Indianapolis Star