The fever game ended in utter chaos after Caitlin Clark was taken down — but there was plenty of criticism and blame to go around.Who will bear the brunt of this?What punishment will Caitlin’s attackers receive?/hi
Fever game ends in absolute chaos after Caitlin Clark is knocked down — and furious blame game erupts
Sophie Cunningham sent a message in the closing seconds of the Fever’s victory over the Sun on Tuesday.
Cunningham tackled Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon as she drove to the basket for a layup with the Fever ahead by 17 with 46 seconds left.
This led to a wild scrum and ejections of both Cunningham and Sheldon, as well as the Sun’s Lindsay Allen.
Sophie Cunningham takes down Jacy Sheldon during the Fever’s win over the Sun.
It came after Sheldon had poked Fever star Caitlin Clark in the eye earlier in the game, right before her teammate, Marina Mabrey, knocked Clark to the floor.
“I did not understand,” Sun coach Rachid Meziane said of Cunningham’s foul after the 88-71 win, according to the Indianapolis Star.
When you are winning the game by 17 points and you are doing this, to me, stupid foul — this is just disrespectful. … It’s just disrespectful to do that foul when you’re winning the game by 17 points. Completely stupid.”
Cunningham, who was acquired in a trade with the Mercury this offseason, appeared to respond to the comment, or perhaps the whole situation, by posting a picture of her shrugging from the Fever’s media day on her Instagram Story.
Sophie Cunningham seemingly posted a reaction on Instagram.SophieCunningham/Instagram
That the referees only gave Sheldon and Mabrey flagrant 1 fouls — and not ejections — for the Clark play earlier in the game clearly fueled the frustration on the Fever’s side.
“When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow that stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long…,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “You’ve got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do, and when you allow them to play physical, and you allow these things to happen, they’re going to compete, and they’re going to have their teammates’ backs.”
Sophie Cunningham and Jacy Sheldon were both ejected from the game.White noted that “everybody’s getting better, except the officials.”
And, well, at least the Sun would agree with that.
Meziane made a similar statement about how aggressive play is going unchecked “all over the league” by officials.
Caitlin Clark gets knocked to the floor during the Fever’s win over the Sun on June 17, 2025.Getty Images
Caitlin Clark celebrates during the Fever win.“And at some point, you have to defend yourself when stuff is happening to you. We have to take steps to do so,” Sun guard Jaelyn Brown said, according to The Star.
The win put the Fever in the Commissioner’s Cup championship against the Lynx on July 1.
