5 hours ago
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After an on-court scuffle between the Connecticut Sun and the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night, fans have been praising Caitlin Clark's teammates for coming to her defense.
Clark was driving to the lane in the third quarter when she took an unlucky foul from Sun guard Jacy Sheldon as she made a wild attempt to poke the ball free, inadvertently poking Clark in the eye.
As the two teams came together, with Clark falling to the ground, Fever guard Lexie Hull ran over and got in the face of Sheldon.
The two got into a brief, but heated, exchange of words in that moment before being separated. Clark and Sun center Tina Charles were assessed double technical fouls while Sun guard Marina Mabrey also got a technical.
Later in the game, with Sheldon coming away with the steal in the final minute, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham committed a blatant and hard foul of her own - wrapping her arms around Sheldon's head and pulling her by her neck to the ground.
Another larger scuffle ensued, with Connecticut's Lindsay Allen running over to defend her teammate and Sheldon popping straight up to shove Cunningham. Tensions took a while to die down and at the end of it, Cunningham, Sheldon, and Allen were all ejected.
After Caitlin Clark (second left) got inadvertently poked in the eye during a game against the Connecticut Sun, some of her Indiana Fever teammates came to her defense on the court
Fever guard Sophie Cunningham pulled Sun guard Jacy Sheldon to the ground by her neck
It led to a scuffle, which saw Cunningham, Sheldon, and Lindsay Allen get ejected
With Cunningham seemingly taking the mantle as Clark's personal security guard, Fever fans praised her for her actions.
'Finally a teammate got Caitlin Clark’s back after the assault she’s taken tonight. Sophie Cunningham you are a G,' wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.
LA Rams pass rusher Jared Verse tweeted the video, saying, 'THIS STANDING ON BUSINESS!!!!'
Another fan posted, 'Sophie Cunningham is the hero the WNBA needs.'
Others remarked about the poor job from the officials, with one fan saying, 'WNBA refs have completely lost control in Fever/Sun game.'
Cunningham also received some pushback for the brutality of her foul.
'I understand wanting to defend your teammate but THAT was some bush league and dirty work from Sophie Cunningham. Could’ve done some serious damage to Jacy Sheldon’s neck on the play. SC has a reputation for crossing the line,' said WNBA sportscaster Chris Williamson.
NBC Sports' Natalie Esquire posted, 'No place in the game for what Sophie Cunningham did. That warrants further review and penalty from the league.'
Indiana beat Connecticut 88-71 to earn a spot in the WNBA's Commissioners Cup Championship. They'll play the Minnesota Lynx.
