WNBA Reveals Sophie Cunningham, Marina Mabrey Punishment for Feisty Fever-Sun Affair
The women's basketball community is still buzzing about the feisty game that the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun played on June 17. While the Fever ultimately won the game with ease, the storylines that followed were all about several physical altercations that led to multiple technical fouls and ejections.
The most (unnecessarily) physical acts came from Sun wing Marina Mabrey and Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. Mabrey's came when she shoved Caitlin Clark to the ground in the third quarter (which should have earned her a flagrant foul and, in the eyes of many, an ejection) after Clark and Sun guard Jacy Sheldon had an exchange because Sheldon poked her in the eye.
Alas, Mabrey only received a technical foul after the shove. And perhaps this led to Sophie Cunningham retaliating by sending Sheldon to the ground with a hard foul in the fourth quarter, which prompted her and Sheldon to go at each other.
Cunningham and Sheldon were both ejected after this. And in June 18, the WNBA revealed what punishments several players would receive for their roles in this intense game.
"Marina Mabrey's technical from last night's Fever-Sun game has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, the league told ESPN. A flagrant 2 comes from a standard fine," ESPN's Alexa Philippou wrote in an X post. She later added,
"Additionally, Sophie Cunningham was fined separately for her hard foul with 46 secs to play
"No players will be suspended".
Marina Mabrey's technical from last night's Fever-Sun game has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, the league told ESPN. A flagrant 2 comes from a standard fine.
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) June 18, 2025
Additionally, Sophie Cunningham was fined separately for her hard foul with 46 secs to play
No players will be suspended
Therefore, while Cunningham and Mabrey are both getting fined, neither will have to miss a game because of what happened.
Recommended Reading:
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
Follow GrvntYoung