Fever Hit With Another Blow As Sophie Cunningham Exits Game With Knee Injury
the Indiana Fever guard was helped off the floor and ruled out with a right knee injury after a second-quarter collision with Bria Hartley.
Sophie Cunningham took a nasty spill and had to be helped off the floor after suffering a knee injury during the second quarter of the Indiana Fever's game against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
While attempting a pass to the sideline, Sun guard Bria Hartley fell into the side of Cunningham’s leg underneath the Connecticut basket. Play continued as Cunningham grabbed her right leg and hopped to the baseline. Then, she fell to the floor, grabbing her knee and yelling in pain.
The Fever confirmed a right knee injury and ruled her out for the remainder of the game.
It's a nightmare scenario for an Indiana squad that has already been devastated by injuries. Caitlin Clark has been out since July 15 with a right groin injury and point guards Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson suffered season-ending injuries on July 30 in Phoenix.
Cunningham has been critical all season of WNBA officiating, noting that she and her Fever teammates are often on the receiving end of hard fouls that don't get called. The fan-favorite player has already been fined twice in the past month for her comments about referees.
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And it does appear the refs might have it out for her. In fact, Cunningham received a technical foul less than one minute into Sunday's game after officials determined she had unnecessarily knocked over Leila Lecan while fighting for a jump ball.
Following Sunday's injury, Sophie's older sister, Lindsey Cunningham, took to social media to voice her frustrations about the league's officiating.
Lindsey wrote on X: "@WNBA maybe you should focus less on fining players for commenting on your poor officiating & more about hiring officials that are able to call a consistent game and protect your athletes. Pathetic. Praying for you, @sophaller."
There's no love lost between the Fever and Sun. It was against Connecticut that Cunningham solidified her role as the Fever's "enforcer" after she threw Jacy Sheldon to the ground for poking Clark in the eyeball. That game alone included six technical fouls, three ejections and two flagrant fouls.