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Caitlin Clark’s Teammate Earns New Nickname After Getting Ejected From Fever Game
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- Caitlin Clark’s Teammate Earns New Nickname After Getting Ejected From Fever Game
Caitlin Clark's Teammate Earns New Nickname After Getting Ejected From Fever Game originally appeared on Athlon Sports .
On Tuesday night, the Indiana Fever won their second straight game with Caitlin Clark back in the lineup, defeating the Connecticut Sun 88-71.
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The win, coupled with the New York Liberty taking down the Atlanta Dream , booked Indiana a spot in the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final as the top-ranked team from the East with a 4-1 record.
Despite the lopsided scoreline, Connecticut did not go down without a fight. The game escalated when Clark got into it with Sun guard Jacy Sheldon and got knocked to the floor by Connecticut's Marina Mabrey .
Sheldon received a flagrant 1 foul for poking Clark in the eye, but no ejections were handed out at the time.
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With Sheldon still on the court in the final minute of the game, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham jumped at an opportunity to get a little payback for Clark and earned a new nickname in the process.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (right) had the back of her teammate Caitlin Clark (left) against the Connecticut Sun.Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images; Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
With 46.1 seconds remaining and the scoreline out of hand, Sheldon raced down for a layup, but Cunningham wrapped her up with a hard foul.
Things got ugly under the basket as a scuffle broke out involving several players on both teams. Cunningham and Sheldon were both ejected along with Sun guard Lindsay Allen for their roles in the fight.
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For better or worse, the altercation stamped Cunningham with a nickname from the Fever faithful.
"Sophie Cunningham aka the enforcer," said one X user .
"Sophie Cunningham the enforcer," wrote another . "I like it."
"Sophie Cunningham: Enforcer," typed a fan .
"We love Sophie Cunningham The Enforcer," wrote another user with a series of heart emojis.
Some Fever fans were pleased to see Clark's teammate stick up for her after accusations were thrown at the Fever for not protecting the former Iowa star from physical play enough during her rookie season in 2024.
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For others, the fact that Cunningham had to take matters into her own hands appeared to be a result of the WNBA officials not controlling the game and setting the tone by ejecting Sheldon and Mabrey during the earlier interaction with Clark.
Related: Caitlin Clark's Interaction With Official Results in Technical Foul
Related: Angel Reese Directly Addresses Major Criticism About Her Game
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
