Auburn Hills, MI (AHN) - The defending WNBA champion Detroit Shock got 24 points from superstar small forward Deanna Nolan on Sunday to beat the Indiana Fever 77-63 and even their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Fever at one win apiece.

With their backs up against a wall and their season in jeopardy, the Shock beat back the Fever and improved to 6-0 when in elimination games the past two postseasons.

"We love playing with our backs against the wall," said Nolan, who caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 15 points. "That's when our energy gets going."

The Shock will look to move to 7-0 when the series finale takes place on their home floor Monday night.

"We played all year to make sure that we'd get to play tomorrow's game at home," head coach Bill Laimbeer said. "This team has heart and a strong will, and they're also a pretty good basketball team. We've done what we've supposed to do -

win our home games."

The Shock placed five players in double figures in scoring including Swin Cash, who totaled 12 points and nine rebounds after being benched by Laimbeer following a poor outing in Game 1. The move was reminiscent of the 2006 postseason when Laimbeer also benched Cash during the finals. Just like Sunday night, Cash responded that time as well.

"Swin knows that when she's not at the right mental level, I'm not going to play her, and that's what happened in Game 1," Laimbeer said. "Tonight, she set the tone with her energy and focus."

Cash said her teammates kept her in a positive mental state throughout the contest.

"Some games are better than others, but my teammates were really supportive," Cash said. "They just kept telling me to be aggressive, and that's what I did."

The Fever were led by Anna DeForge who scored 13 points against her former team.

Indiana superstar Tamika Catchings scored just seven points.

"We knew this wasn't going to be easy," Indiana coach Brian Winters said. "They are the champions until someone beats them, and we knew they would play a much better game today than Game 1."

The Fever led 20-16 after one quarter, but couldn't contain Nolan in the second quarter or figure out Detroit's stifling zone defense.

Nolan drained all five of her shots in the period while the Fever looked thoroughly confused by Detroit's suddenly tenacious defense.

"We have to play better against the zone in Game 3," Winters said. "When we miss shots against that zone, it lets them get out and run, and when Nolan gets space, she's so fast that she's going to hurt you."