INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever were officially eliminated from the 2023 WNBA Playoffs with a 110-100 loss to the Dallas Wings on Friday night, extending their streak of missing the playoffs to seven years. The Fever have not made playoffs since 2016, Tamika Catchings' last year in the league.

"We put ourselves in a position to stay in (the playoffs) up until tonight, so I just told them, 'This season for us was about just getting this franchise, getting this organization back where it was. And that's what we were doing this year, setting some standards.'" Sides said. "… We never gave in. We always played hard, played tough."

Friday's game was also the second time Indiana has eclipsed 100 points on the season, but both of those marks came in losses. The Fever had 103 points in an overtime loss to the Chicago Sky in June.

Here are three observations from the Fever's loss:

Satou Sabally, Arike Ogunbowale incinerate Fever defense

If it wasn’t Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale, it was Satou Sabally torching the Fever defense.

Ogunbowale picked up 18 points in the first half against the Fever defense, going 6-for-12 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Sabally, who had just 12 points in the first half, picked up the scoring for the rest of the game.

Sabally eclipsed 40 points, a career high, halfway though the fourth quarter, having her way beyond the arc. She finished the game with a 13-of-19 mark from the field and a staggering 7-of-10 from the 3-point line (in which five of those makes came in the fourth quarter alone).

"Satou, first game back, she's 40 points," head coach Christie Sides said. "We make adjustments, still, she was able to get shots off. You just can't let that happen. They have so many weapons though, so it's just really hard."

Indiana Fever eliminated

While the Wings clinched a playoff spot with their 20th victory of the season on Friday, the Fever were officially eliminated from the 2023 WNBA playoffs with their 25th loss.

"I think it's less about the franchise's history, and more about what the team, this 12, have done," Kelsey Mitchell said. "We have a team that is focused on winning, we always want to win and unfortunately it didn't bounce this way for us this year."

But this elimination comes with just four games left in the season — a far cry from Indiana’s season-eliminating loss last season. The Fever were the first team eliminated from the playoffs on July 24, 2022, with a 5-25 record at the time. This season, Indiana was in contention for a playoff spot all the way to September.

"For me, this year has been progress," Sides said. "The wins, to just being in games that people didn't expect us to be in, growth. Winning those last three games in a row, for our team, that was huge. To win late, to finish late, to win games, that's progress. That's what we've been trying to do, that's what we've been working toward."

The Phoenix Mercury (9-27) were the first team eliminated from the playoffs in 2023, snapping a 10-season streak of appearances. The Seattle Storm (11-25) were the second team eliminated.

Best odds in 2024 WNBA Draft lottery

With the loss on Friday, Indiana officially holds the best odds for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft lottery. The lottery is based on non-playoff teams’ records over the last two seasons — even if the Fever win their final four games, they will still have the worst two-year record.

The Fever aren’t guaranteed the No. 1 pick, however. This is the fourth time Indiana has the best odds in the lottery, and it got the top pick for the first time in 2023, selecting Aliyah Boston.

Indiana will have a 44.2% chance of the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, while the second-worst team will have a 27.6% chance. The third and fourth-worst teams will have a 17.8% and 10.4% chance, respectively, of the top pick.

More: Indiana Fever have best odds in 2024 WNBA draft lottery, possible shot at Caitlin Clark

"There's some special players in the upcoming draft," Sides said. "To add another piece to what we've got right now, and then to add some other pieces that we need, we're building. That was our goal this year, we're building for our future, for sustainable years of wins, that's what we're looking to. So there's going to be a great prospect in that draft, and they're going to come in, and we're going to hopefully just continue to get better."

There are multiple coveted players that could be in the 2024 WNBA Draft, including reigning national player of the year Caitlin Clark from Iowa, 2021 NPOTY Paige Bueckers from UConn, LSU forward Angel Reese, and Stanford center Cameron Brink.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WNBA: Indiana Fever eliminated from playoffs with loss to Dallas Wings