Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham called out the “unnecessary” hard foul she received from the Chicago Sky’s DiJonai Carrington in Saturday’s 90-86 win.
Midway through the first quarter, Cunningham was running down the court for a breakaway layup when Carrington made contact to her head from behind. The referees reviewed the play and assessed a flagrant 2 foul to Carrington, resulting in her ejection.
“Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary,” Cunningham said, per ESPN’s Kareem Copeland. “I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent-up stuff. So, get your s–t off. That’s fine. I can take it.”
Fever coach Stephanie White weighed in to say the ejection was warranted but that she didn’t think Carrington was trying to hurt Cunningham.
“Look, it was a hard foul,” she said. “It did happen, and I thought it was the right call. One of the things about [Carrington] is that she’s going to play her butt off, man. She’s going to compete. Nobody’s going to go walking in for a layup. I don’t oppose the hard foul, but I also don’t think that she intentionally went for the neck.”
Cunningham has reveled in her role as an on-court “enforcer” over the last two years, a reputation she earned for a similar foul on the Connecticut Sun’s Jacy Sheldon in June 2025.
The eighth-year wing sparked reaction recently when she addressed her stance on transgender athletes to ESPN’s Hallie Grossman.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh stated “that the controversy surrounding Cunningham didn’t add anything extra to the game,” according to the Associated Press:
“We didn’t come into this one with any more or less juice than we’ve had in the last four since the All-Star break. Our mindset is trying to win games.”
Marsh also stated “he thought Carrington was making a play on the ball” when addressing the foul on Cunningham:
“I haven’t looked at that play since, so I really don’t know if it was justified or not,” he said. “But, that’s what I thought in the moment.”
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