Sophie Cunningham Is Unsung Hero Behind Caitlin Clark Game-Winner
Sophie Cunningham made the right read in finding Caitlin Clark, who then did her part in knocking down the game-winner.
The Indiana Fever earned their sixth win of the season in electric fashion after Clark drained a 31-foot shot off a crosscourt inbound pass from Cunningham with 4.3 seconds left in regulation, leaving only 1.2 seconds on the clock for the Washington Mystics once the ball went through the net.
Even though it was Clark who buried the shot, Cunningham's ability to make a split-second decision and find the team's most lethal shooter with the game on the line should certainly be applauded and deserves proper credit. Something Clark made sure to point out after the contest.
"A lot of time the credit doesn't go to the person inbounding the ball. That was a tough pass, like skip pass, somebody on the ball and across the court, and you know Cotie [McMahon] almost got a fingertip on it. Kind of worked out perfectly that she went for the steal," Clark said.
The pass.
— Sophie Cunningham FAN CLUB (@SophieC_FanClub) June 9, 2026
The SHOT!!!
BALLGAME.
(also, what a pass!) pic.twitter.com/xJiJNBDsss
The Fever made it harder than necessary against the Mystics, blowing another lead, as they were up by as many as 17 points—before ultimately coming away with the two-point victory thanks to Clark's heroics.
Stephanie White Discussed Game Plan Following Win
Following the Fever's big win, the final play left some wondering if that's exactly how they drew it up or if they quickly switched gears in the moment. The Fever had plenty of options, with Kelsey Mitchell appearing as she may have been the primary one on a curl to the basket. Aliyah Boston also had her defender sealed and Lexie Hull retreated to the corner as an apparent fallback option.
Clark also curled to the left wing and a defensive miscommunication from the Mystics left her open, with McMahon overcommitting to compensate, leaving Clark with what she called, "the best look I had all night."
Head coach Stephanie White was asked following the game if that was how they planned it out. She would quickly credit assistant Austin Kelly for the drawn-up play.
"Austin drew up the play, Austin does a lot of our end of game stuff. It was what he drew up. We executed it perfectly. I think you see we've been in a lot of those end of game situations and we've done a really good job of executing in those moments. We got the shot, C[lark] stepped up and made a hell of a shot," White said.
However, Cunningham posted a meme via her Instagram hinting her pass to Clark may have been a bit of improvisation.
no way Sophie just posted this they really went rogue on the final play LMFAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/zLGNrvwXmP
— correlation (@nosyone4) June 9, 2026
Regardless, the Fever took what the opposing defense gave them in that moment and executed the final play to perfection.
"Great pass Soph," White said in a video from the locker room released after the game.
And given the result, who could argue?
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Lindsay Burke covers women’s basketball for Indiana Fever On SI and Women’s Fastbreak On SI. She graduated from Purdue University Fort Wayne with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism and a minor in media production. Early in her career she covered ECHL hockey, the NFL and college football and has since expanded her expertise to the WNBA and the Fever franchise.
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