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INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Indiana Fever prevailed in a battle of bad expansion teams and has its first winning streak. Stephanie McCarty scored eight of her 16 points during a decisive second-half run, leading the Fever to a 64-45 rout of the Seattle Storm. The Fever (5-14) used an 18-6 run to take a 47-36 lead with 5:58 left. McCarty ignited it with two free throws and capped it with another. She also nailed a 3-pointer and made a layup during the spurt, helping Indiana win consecutive games for the first time. It snapped a 10-game losing streak on Wednesday with a victory over Washington. "(McCarty) gave the team a real spark," Indiana coach Anne Donovan said. "She did the same thing against Washington. When she's on, it gives our whole team confidence." The Storm went ahead, 30-29, with 12:50 to play on a free throw by Sonja Henning but made only four baskets thereafter en route to their fifth straight loss, all on the road. Seattle (3-18), which entered the league this season with Indiana, Portland and Miami, fell to 0-4 against its expansion sisters. After a sloppily played first half which saw the teams combine for 18 turnovers but only 16 buckets, the Storm used an 11-4 run to take a 30-29 advantage at the 12:50 mark. But Seattle did not convert its next basket until Quacy Barnes hit a 7-footer two minutes later and was held without another bucket until Barnes connected more than five minutes later. The Storm shot only 35 percent (16-of-46), missed all six of their 3-point attempts and committed 19 turnovers, which led to 27 Indiana points. "I was disappointed that we didn't play well," Seattle coach Lin Dunn said. "At halftime it was a battle of wills -- neither team took charge. Finally, Indiana stepped up and we said, 'You can take the game.' This is the worst defeat. That's unacceptable against another expansion team." Robin Threatt scored 13 points and Barnes added 12 for the Storm, who fell one-half game behind Charlotte for the worst record in the league. The Fever took their largest of the first half at 14-7 on a 3-pointer by McCarty with 9:51 remaining. Seattle used a 12-5 spurt to draw even with 2:02 left but McCarty and Rita Williams nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to end the session. A crowd of 10,920 saw the Fever snap an eight-game home losing streak. "This one's really for the people that continue to support us," Donovan said. "They're our heart and soul, they're the best."
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