Sophie Cunningham Calls Out WNBA Referees for Failing to Protect Caitlin Clark
The women's basketball community is still buzzing about what took place between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun on June 17. Specifically, what happened in the third quarter, when star guard Caitlin Clark was shoved to the ground by Sun veteran Marina Mabrey after Clark and Sun guard Jacy Sheldon had a brief exchange because Sheldon poked Clark in the eye.
One quarter later, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham retaliated by throwing Sheldon to the ground, which prompted a brawl that ended up with Cunningham and Sheldon both getting ejected from the game, which earned them a $400 fine from the league.
This has sparked discussion about Clark's continued physical treatment from her peers, and whether the league is doing enough to keep its biggest superstar protected.
Cunningham spoke with the media on June 21 and sent a strong message about this.
"I'm not focused on the extracurricular activities. And you know what, during that, it was just part of the game," Cunningham said, per the Fever's YouTube channel.
"I think the refs had a lot to do with that. It was a buildup for a couple years now of them just not protecting the star player in the WNBA. And so at the end of the day, I’m going to protect my teammates, that’s what I do. And I'm a team player, so it's all good," she added.
Sophie: “I think the refs had a lot to do with that. It was a build up for a couple years now of them just not, not protecting the star player in the WNBA. And so at the end of the day, I’m going to protect my teammates, that’s what I do.” #NowYouKnow pic.twitter.com/Vq6VUkDG6e
— Jess (@FeverBandwagon) June 21, 2025
Cunningham certainly isn't wrong about the referees playing a major role in everything that happened on July 17 escalating to the degree it did. However, it's hard to imagine much will change.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever 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.
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