- The Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun were involved in a feisty game on Tuesday night, which started with Caitlin Clark and Jacy Sheldon getting into it.
- Sophie Cunningham gave Sheldon a late, hard foul, resulting in a fracas and three ejections.
- Indiana fans have started a GoFundMe to cover Cunningham’s fines.
The Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun were involved in a combative game on Tuesday, June 17. It ended in an 88-71 rout for the Fever, but several confrontations took the spotlight.
Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham was ejected for a late foul on Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon and subsequent skirmish. Cunningham has been fined by the WNBA, and fans have started a GoFundMe to pay for the fines.
Cunningham Sticks Up for Clark, Foul on Sheldon Sparks Melee
We reported on the scuffle on Wednesday, but here is a quick refresher. Indiana’s Caitlin Clark had been battling with Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon all game. Sheldon poked Clark in the eye, and Clark was also shoved to the ground.
Late in the game, Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham fouled Sheldon, who was going for a layup, and grabbed her around the neck. That sparked an altercation, and ended with ejections for Cunningham, Sheldon, and Connecticut’s Lindsay Allen.
As soon as it happened, fans tried to get aligned to start a GoFundMe for any fines incurred by Cunningham.
Cunningham wasn’t suspended by the WNBA, but she will be fined. For getting a Flagrant 2 foul, the Indiana guard will be fined $400. She also received a separate fine for her late foul, and the amount is undisclosed. However, fans have kept their world, raising $295 at the time of writing on Friday afternoon, via a GoFundMe account.
Should Cunningham Have Been Punished at All?
Cunningham had to receive some sort of punishment for sticking up for Clark, which is why all this happened. But it is admirable of Cunningham to retaliate for her teammate, and it wouldn’t be a shock at all if Clark herself paid for Cunningham’s fines.
But as I said on Wednesday, the onus is on the referees to control the game. Fever head coach Stephanie White said that this was always going to happen, and as for someone who watched the game, she was right. This game was chippy from the start, even before Sheldon poked Clark in the eye in the third quarter. It was a basketball play as Sheldon was going for the ball and happened to get Clark, but her teammates still had to stick up for her, and Cunningham stepped up.
Someone has to police the play on the court, and Cunningham took it upon herself to do so. Cunningham definitely earned the respect of her teammates on Tuesday night!
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