“I wish this was a filter,” Lexie Hull expressed after an on-court collision left her with two black eyes and a swollen forehead. It captured the cruel reality of a season where every step was shadowed by injury setbacks. Their 2025 campaign began with championship intent, poised to make a storybook run. But a series of injuries forced Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, and Aari McDonald to the sidelines. A once-promising backcourt soon depleted, forcing head coach Stephanie White and the locker room to function in survival mode instead. So, when Lexi faced the scare, all White could blurt was, “That was disgusting.”

Barely three minutes into their matchup against the Storm, disaster struck again. Hull, diving for a steal, collided violently with Gabby Williams. The result? Both players crashed to the hardwood, clutching their heads. As a bump protruded on her forehead, Hull was assisted to the locker room. But the Fever still fought their way to a glorious 95–75 victory. And refused to fold under the weight of another blow. But the aftermath was written all over Hull’s face.

IndyStar reporter Chloe Peterson recently engaged in a candid conversation with Hull after a shootaround drill. After revealing her condition across social media, Hull detailed the moment with dry humor.

“Yeah, well, so it happened I had a photoshoot on Wednesday, on our off day. So, I was like ‘Oh my god! I was going to look horrible,’ and originally I thought, ‘I need to get this swelling to go down in my forehead,’ Hull revealed. “So I put a patch- slept with it. The next day I woke up and was like, Okay, the bump is almost gone, but now I have two black eyes. So that was tragic.”

If the injury seemed like a cruel punchline, Hull turned it into defiance. And checked back in just a quarter later. Only to bury a 24-foot jumper that forced Seattle into a timeout. Despite blackened eyed and a puffy forehead, she posted 5 points, 9 rebounds, and a +31 rating across 23 minutes.

Following the game, Hull was checked for concussion and a skull fracture — usually the cause for black eyes — but it was confirmed there were no injuries. The young guard will settle with that even if it means playing with racoon eyes. “Unfortunately, at this point won’t be able to hide it. People know so rolling with it,” she admitted, grateful to continue to show up for the injury-ridden roster.

Having said that, the Storm victory came at a crucial moment for the Fever. It sprinted the franchise from the threshold of the playoff contention to sixth position, thereby increasing their playing chances for an aspirational win.

However, the team still has six crucial games to face, with one against Phoenix Mercury and another against Minnesota Lynx, both of which can be the deciding factors for the team this season. For the Fever, the question is no longer whether they can withstand adversity. It is whether they can turn the very bruises that defined their season into fuel for one more push toward an aspirational win.

Indiana Fever HC has positive news for fans

“There are very few people who get the opportunity to say they have a logo and to make the impact she makes; not just in the sport but globally, just by being who she is.” Stephanie White congratulated Caitlin Clark during the pregame conference on Tuesday. Clark deserved a signature logo after closely working with Nike for the past eight months. And when the logo was released, it was with a grand celebration from the Indiana Fever franchise.

The team unfurled a large banner of the logo outside the arena building, with several posters across the campus, ahead of the tipoff against Seattle Storm. It featured the interlocked CC logo and a tagline that read, “Caitlin Was Here.” But as fans revelled in the celebrations, head coach White had another news up her sleeve.

Providing a fresh update on Clark’s injury, White revealed that the athlete did a walkthrough with the staff. “She went through it yesterday,” Stephanie White told reporters on Tuesday. “I want to see her in practice. Live in practice. I want to see her continue to work to not just build endurance, but to be able to handle contact 94 feet as it’s going to be in-game, and to be able to do that and sustain from an endurance standpoint.”

While the athlete has been recovering gradually, it will take several practice sessions to build endurance and resistance before she can be reintegrated into the active roster. With just six games left for the season to conclude, it will be exciting to watch whether Caitlin Clark does in fact return to the hardwood.