Fever WNBA

Cunningham’s Season-Ending Injury Piles on Indiana’s Misfortune

Mac PhamAugust 25, 20251 Mins read478

Aug 17, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) is helped off the court injured as they take on the Connecticut Sun in the first half at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images

David Butler II-Imagn Images

Another blow for the Indiana Fever.

On Sunday, Aug. 17, guard Sophie Cunningham tore the MCL in her right knee, and she will miss the rest of the season.

On a defensive possession against Connecticut, Cunningham slid over to trap the box and her knees got caught under a Bria Hartley drive.

Injuries have hit Indiana like dominos this season.

Sydney Colson suffered a left torn ACL on Aug. 7
Aari McDonald suffered a season-ending fracture in her right foot also on Aug. 7
Caitlin Clark has been dealing with a groin injury and last played on July 15

Cunningham started in 13 games and shot a career-high in field goal percentage (46.9) and three-point percentage (43.2) this season.

The veteran also shot 45 percent on above the break three-pointers. Post All-Star break, she shot a blistering 30/64 (46%) from deep.

https://twitter.com/WomensHoops_USA/status/1918750305509838858

In her return to Phoenix, where she spent the first six seasons of her career, she scored a season-high 18 points and tied a season-high in three-pointers made (5).

The sixth-seed Fever hold a two-game lead over the ninth-seed Los Angeles Sparks with nine games remaining.

https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1940227271148937408

Sophie Cunningham the Vocal Leader

Indiana will miss Cunningham’s perimeter defense and intensity.

Really enjoy how physical and connected IND's defense has been at points this year — especially in the Aces matchups.

Early top-lock to take away *another* stagger. Smart switch from Aliyah Boston to take away Aaliyah Nye. Easy interception from Sophie Cunningham in the corner. pic.twitter.com/lOYGeChB5l

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) July 25, 2025

Most importantly, Indiana will miss her character. She is one of a kind.

She had no hard feelings for Hartley, empathizing for the heat Hartley was taking on the play that ended Cunningham’s season.

The 29-year-old is also a black belt in taekwondo; she displayed her martial arts background earlier this season when she defended Clark after Jacy Sheldon had poked Clark in the eye.

After further review….

Jacy Sheldon had NO intention on shooting that layup. She dipped her left shoulder into Sophie Cunningham and held on to that ball like a running back.

This ends up more like self-defense from Sophie as Shelton was bent on barrelling over Sophie. pic.twitter.com/jrPP87fjFi

— Cletus Roscoe (@CletusRoscoe1) June 19, 2025

Cunningham developed a reputation as Clark’s enforcer, showing her mental toughness to stand up for her teammates.

With her injury, Cunningham won’t face the challenge of balancing basketball and podcasting for the remainder of the season. She had voiced her frustrations with the consistency of the officiating and received fines for her comments.

https://twitter.com/Sportico/status/1953108726367314036

One thing is for sure, she will give listeners good insight on her road to recovery.

Written by

Mac Pham

Mac Pham, is a San Diego State alum. He formally served as the vice president for SDSU's Asian American Journalist Association chapter. He currently has a sports marketing internship. Mac is The Lead's analyst for film breakdowns. He wants to add value and help build The Lead into a professional sports digital media outlet. The Lead getting that professional stamp of validation would be the championship. That's the dream. "If you have a dream, know that it is possible. If you believe that you can get it and you put in the work, you can achieve that dream" Loyalty is everything.