INDIANAPOLIS — Despite the losing record in 2023, the Indiana Fever’s fight in every single game put all the other WNBA teams on notice.

Take Aliyah Boston’s 3-pointer — just her third 3-point attempt of her professional career, and her first make — to force overtime against the league-leading New York Liberty in July, for example. Indiana ended up losing that game, but it was a sample of the crusade the Fever brought to every game that season.

It was something incoming free agents noticed, too.

Katie Lou Samuelson, a 6-3 forward, saw herself as a potential missing piece the Fever needed for a 2024 run. So, she signed a two-year protected contract with the Fever earlier this month, putting her in Indianapolis for the 2024 and ‘25 seasons.

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“I feel like I do fit a puzzle piece that may have been not fully developed last season,” Samuelson said. “Coming off of the season that the Fever had, they were a team that gave everyone a tough game at some point during the season. And so just being able to, hopefully, translate that and help with not only shooting and lengthening, but leadership and bringing some more experience to the team as well.”

Samuelson was drafted fourth overall by the Chicago Sky in 2019, and she has played for Chicago, Dallas, Seattle and Los Angeles in her five years in the WNBA. Her best season came in 2022 with the Sparks, averaging 9.7 points and three rebounds per game.

She did not play last season, as she had a baby girl in August 2023.

Coming into the 2024 season as a free agent, the Indiana Fever were enticing to Samuelson for multiple reasons. Indiana has a family atmosphere that is good for her daughter, Aliya, she said, and her husband, Devin Cannady, is from Mishawaka, Indiana.

On top of that, the Fever are on the tail end of a rebuild — something they’ve been working toward since Tamika Catchings retired in 2016.

“My husband’s family is from here and I'm grateful that I have that family aspect of it,” Samuelson said. “But just getting to go see what the Fever had in-person, and see what you know, coach (Christie) Sides and (general manager) Lin Dunn are trying to do and build, I could really feel that …  and knowing that it's such a family environment, and that they're so excited to not only have me but have (Aliya) be a part of the process.”

More: Indiana Fever 'ahead of schedule' in rebuild. What they need this offseason for next step.

Samuelson fills a critical piece of the Fever’s final stage of the rebuilding process — a stretch or shooting guard/forward. Boston, the 2023 No. 1 pick, and 2022 No. 2 pick NaLyssa Smith will make up the Fever’s frontcourt, while eight-year WNBA veteran Kelsey Mitchell will play off the ball at the 2.

“I do feel like I can fit well in the three spot,” Samuelson said. “I feel like Aliyah Boston is not only a great player, but she's a great competitor, and I feel like I could play off of her very well, both on the court but in mentality, and all that. With NaLyssa Smith, and even signing the Damiris Dantas, I feel like we can have a very long and tall lineup out there at a lot of times.”

With an entirely new coaching staff in 2023, including Sides and assistants Karima Christmas-Kelly, Jessie Miller, and Paul Miller, the Fever steadily improved. Its 13-27 record in 2023 more than doubled the number of wins in 2022 (5-31), and the Fever are poised for more improvement with the No. 1 pick for the second year in a row.

Iowa star point guard Caitlin Clark, who just declared for the 2024 draft on Thursday, will fill out Indiana’s starting lineup perfectly.

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Overall, Samuelson is confident in the culture Sides is creating in Indianapolis.

“The way that coach Sides is building a team that she wants to play and practice harder than everyone in the league, I really do believe in what she's trying to do,” Samuelson said. “And I think that was one of the biggest things. Being there and meeting with her, I felt like she really is putting her whole heart and soul into this program in this team, and that is something that I did want to be part of.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why former UConn star Katie Lou Samuelson wanted to join a rebuilding Indiana Fever team