Thursday morning links: Indiana Fever stuck in a rut, Sancho Lyttle out for six games, the Brittney Griner effect, and Title IX

There's no theme to this group of links except that they were found yesterday.

Without further ado, move on.

• David Woods of the Indianapolis Star reports that the 1-4 Indiana Fever are off to their worst start since 2011 and that nothing is really going right as the team is dealing with four injured players. Tamika Catchings' shooting woes continued as she shot 3-for-15 - including missed layups - to drop her season field goal percentage to a career-low 35.1%. Read more >>>
• Woods reported prior to the game that Fever coach Lin Dunn came close to doing a Jim Mora impersonation as she's just trying to win a game. Among the interesting tidbits from the preview is that rookie Layshia Clarendon is playing 23+ more minutes per game in her three starts than Dunn had projected. Read more >>>
• Marq Burnett of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Atlanta Dream coach Fred Williams will be adjusting his offensive schemes a bit with Sancho Lyttle's mid-range shooting production being absent for six games while she plays for Spain. One option he's considering: moving Angel McCoughtry to the power forward spot, which would cause all kinds of matchup problems for opponents. And it's not inconceivable that it could work against their upcoming opponents. LoveWomensBasketball tweeted out proof of her arrival in Europe. Read more >>>
• Netscouts Basketball has announced its USA Women's All-Star team that will compete in China's upcoming "Four Nations" tournament. Among those competing: former WNBA player Alexis Gray-Lawson, fellow Cal alum Talia Caldwell, and 2013 WNBA draft pick Chelsea Poppens. Netscouts has brief profiles of each player. Read more >>>
• Michelle Smith of espnW quantifies Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner's early impact on the WNBA by looking at everything from ticket sales to web traffic to television viewership. Read more >>>
• Roger Sherman of SB Nation summarizes "a damning story" about the NCAA's poor enforcement of its rules by Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated. As it turns out, SBN has a long track record of critiquing NCAA president Mark Emmert. Read more >>>
• Roman Stubbs of the Reno Gazette-Journal describes the findings of a new report "Using Title IX to Measure the Return to High School Sports" released by Penn professor Betsey Stevenson. While the positive findings in the study mirror those found in a recent report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the article also addresses the critiques of Title IX, which include athletics departments losing money. Read more >>>
• The Minnesota Timberwolves have announced the hire of former WNBA player Kaayla Chones (Washington Mystics, 2004-05; Seattle Storm, 2006) as manager of team operations. From the release: "She will also assist the players with personal, professional and social development and help new players and their families with relocation and integration to the community." Read more >>>
• Meaghan Norman of WISTV reports that former WNBA player Yolanda Moore (Houston Comets, 1997-98) will be speaking in South Carolina "about how she rebounded from teen pregnancy and how she's helping others avoid it." Moore had a child when she was 18 and wants to raise awareness to help other teens avoid. Read more >>>
• Veering away from women's basketball for a moment, Gradient Lair posted an interview with rapper Nicki Minaj about the treatment of women in the music and/or business world. An excerpt: "I never put a limit on myself, and I don’t like when especially Black women put a limit on what they can do." Like the author, I haven't been a fan of Minaj but her reaction to her experiences was powerful. Read more >>>

A Nicki Minaj song.

You know the routine: feel free to leave your thoughts and other links in the comments.