{"id":675012,"date":"2026-05-31T00:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/675012\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T00:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T00:10:09","slug":"indiana-fevers-tully-bevilaqua-reflects-on-wnba-growth-portland-fire-reunion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/675012\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Fever’s Tully Bevilaqua reflects on WNBA growth, Portland Fire reunion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Tully Bevilaqua appeared in 425 WNBA games, including 197 with Indiana.<\/p>\n

Tully Bevilaqua has seen it all in the WNBA. As the league celebrates its 30th season, the Australian guard has been part of nearly all of it.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s most known for her time with the Indiana Fever, both as a player and now as a member of the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also done extensive broadcasting work for the team and served as a player development assistant from 2017-20.<\/p>\n

Bevilaqua is now full-time with the franchise, serving as an advanced scout and video coordinator. She\u2019s active in the team\u2019s game preparations and sits behind the bench, in the second row, for every game.<\/p>\n

Head coach Stephanie White was an original member of the Indiana Fever. Now she\u2019s back for her second stint as coach. The Indiana native and 1999 Purdue national champion appreciates Bevilaqua\u2019s passion, knowledge of the game and the fact that she\u2019s been there and done that.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has different perspectives, played on a lot of different teams, played with a lot of different players; having the international experience, having coaching experience at various levels,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer personality is really good. She\u2019s reflective a lot. She brings a different perspective, which I think is good. And she\u2019s done it. I think that\u2019s the thing you have when you look at our staff. It\u2019s like everybody has done it, has played at this level, has won at this level. So bringing that experience and bringing that perspective is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

White, Bevilaqua, along with assistants Briann January and Karima Christmas-Kelly, each played for the Fever. Now they\u2019re coaching.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Bevilaqua and Karima Christmas-Kelly at practice.<\/p>\n

It was much different when they wore the uniform. Back then, the league was still trying to build its following, so the upper level at Gainbridge Fieldhouse wasn\u2019t open.<\/p>\n

Instead, a giant black curtain covered the upper deck. It was removed for the WNBA Finals in 2012 thanks to generous contributions from individuals on the Pacers side.<\/p>\n

Now?<\/p>\n

The Fever essentially sell out every game \u2014 home and away \u2014 and all 44 regular-season games during the 2026 season will air nationally. That\u2019s a first.<\/p>\n

It was simply unheard of before another No. 22, Caitlin Clark, entered the league in 2024.<\/p>\n

Bevilaqua played in the WNBA while the league was still trying to establish itself, won a championship with the Seattle Storm in 2004 and has been with the Fever in some capacity for much of the past decade.<\/p>\n

Bevilaqua returned to Indianapolis after retiring from the league in 2012 \u2014 and has remained there ever since. She\u2019s enjoying the increased popularity and attention the WNBA is finally receiving.<\/p>\n

“I’m loving it because I’ve played for five teams in this league,” she said. “So with everyone that’s coming back, that’s an extra reunion for me once I’m fully retired to go back and watch some games.”<\/p>\n

Bevilaqua entered the WNBA in 1998 with the Cleveland Rockers. She later spent time with the Portland Fire (2000-02), Seattle Storm (2003-04), Fever (2005-10) and San Antonio Silver Stars (2011-12).<\/p>\n

Portland is one of two expansion franchises added this season, along with the Toronto Tempo. The organization chose to revive the Fire name and embrace its history, however brief it may have been.<\/p>\n

The Connecticut Sun will move to Houston, restoring one of the league\u2019s original franchises. And in 2028, Cleveland will have a WNBA team again.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow with all the eyes on the league and the attendances, those arenas will fill out like we didn\u2019t maybe back then,\u201d Bevilaqua said. \u201cI can see those numbers are just going to be through the roof in attendance because they all want a piece of the action now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because Bevilaqua is with the Fever full-time, she was unable to attend a much-anticipated Portland reunion on May 18. Former players, coaches and staff members gathered for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was getting FaceTimed and lots of photos from last night\u2019s reunion with them, so it was pulling at the heartstrings not to be there,\u201d she said before the Fire played in Indy on May 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started out with Vanessa Nygaard, who then became a head coach in the league with the Phoenix Mercury. Kristin Folkl and then Jackie Stiles, for a couple of seasons, was the legend back in those times as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just reminded me of why \u2014 just the fun and enjoyment we had all together and no one expected us to win. So I remember one of the highlights of our tenure was that Los Angeles was going for a record to break, I think the Houston Comets\u2019 number of wins, and we were playing them in L.A., missing players. I think we\u2019d gone down to the beach all morning to work on our tans before the game, and we came out and we won.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if you look back at our celebration after that game, it was like we just won the championship. But that\u2019s how we played every game and that\u2019s how we felt with every win that we had. So it brings back a lot of special memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From point guards in San Anontio to coaches: Bevilaqua and Aces head coach Becky Hammon.<\/p>\n

The reunion also brought back old photos.<\/p>\n

“You see some of those different hairstyles back in the day? Don’t worry, my mum still reminds me about it,” she joked.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Bevilaqua will be there as the Fever play in Portland to complete a two-game trip out west.<\/p>\n

A lot of memories will come flooding back \u2014 beyond those different hairstyles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it folded initially, it was really disappointing because the team was on a momentum uphill in terms of crowd attendance records. So it was a real surprise, real disappointment when we folded,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve got huge following and it just reminds me of the team from back in my day,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re playing with the same integrity, fight. We\u2019re all like the sixth, seventh players from rosters that have come together and you can just see the way that they\u2019re playing out there. They\u2019re just playing with so much passion, so it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bevilaqua appreciates the return of the Fire because it\u2019s restarting the franchise\u2019s history \u2014 and giving former players the chance to reconnect with one another and the city again.<\/p>\n

After a close 90-88 loss Thursday in Golden State, the Fever spent the next two days in Portland. That allowed Bevilaqua, and others, to revisit some of their old stomping grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be nice to go back and have a look,\u201d she said last week, looking ahead. \u201cI would really like to go and check out the female sports bars there now \u2014 The Sports Bra. I believe they\u2019ve got some of the old memorabilia up there, and so it\u2019d be nice to go in there and say g\u2019day to them for supporting the Portland Fire and everything they do, and all the other outlets around now that are really honing in on women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Bevilaqua, Portland\u2019s all-time assists leader, can share stories from the franchise\u2019s early days while reconnecting with familiar faces during her return to the Moda Center.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tully Bevilaqua appeared in 425 WNBA games, including 197 with Indiana. Tully Bevilaqua has seen it all in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-675012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}