Sophie Cunningham Reacts to Getting Elbowed to the Head Against the Sun

Jul 15, 2025 11:34 PM EDT

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham caught an elbow to the head in their Tuesday contest against the Connecticut Sun. The Fever were playing defense, and Cunningham was following Leïla Lacan to the left side elbow. When she approached the area, Olivia Nelson-Ododa swung her right arm.

The frontcourt player’s elbow hit Cunningham in the head, which caused her to fall to the ground momentarily. Interestingly, one of the officials was standing right in front of the players involved. The referee saw what happened but did not bother to stop the play.

However, the Fever guard did not complain and continued with the game. Most fans were upset with what happened and thought it was wrong of the official not to blow their whistle.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham celebrates a made basket — Source: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Fortunately for Cunningham and the Fever, they came out victorious from the contest. She scored 11 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting, helping Indiana to an 85-77 win.

Following the game, Cunningham reacted to the video of the uncalled incident on X.

“they said I flopped. el oh el,” the former Missouri player posted on social media.

The physicality between the two teams isn’t anything new. The last time they played against each other, it led to Cunningham’s first ejection of the regular season after committing a flagrant 2 foul on Sun guard Jacy Sheldon.

The incident caused a scuffle between the Sun and Fever, which also led to Sheldon and her teammate, Lindsay Allen, being called for a technical foul and ejected from the game.

After their game on Tuesday, it’s evident that there’s no love lost between the two franchises.