“These players have something inside of them that you just can’t teach… I’m so incredibly proud of them for continuing to believe.” The Indiana Fever has been tested at every turn this season. They battled through injuries, bruised egos, and sheer physicality, all without their superstar Caitlin Clark. But a new page revealed a breathtaking chapter for the franchise. The Fever marked their largest comeback in history 99-93 against the Connecticut Sun and left HC Stephanie White emotional. But at what cost?
Kelsey Mitchell emerged as the unsung hero for Fever by contributing 38 points against the Sun. However, the team helplessly watched Sophie Cunningham exit the roster during the second quarter. Cunningham came in contact with Sun player Bria Hartley during the second quarter. Unfortunately, the impact resulted in a right knee injury for Cunningham. Meanwhile, national analyst Robin Lundberg shared his two cents on the current locker room.
“Now, there’s also the Sophie Cunningham injury. But to be honest, I’m not sure how that would impact things unless they felt they needed somebody at that position rather than more depth at the point guard position,” Lundberg said on his latest video. “But with Sophie down, they were down personnel regardless and they didn’t have to make a roster move because of what happened with Sophie. There’s no like cause direct cause and effect.” Despite a lack of enough point guards in the roster, Fever front office had signed Odyssey Sims, Chloe Bibby, and Kyra Lambert on hardship contract, to add depth and complete the locker room.
While veteran player Odyssey Sims stepped up in Lexi Hull’s place, she also displayed a powerful guard presence against the Sun. But with Cunningham out, it exposed the team’s vulnerabilities once again. And while fans await her MRI results, one question still lingers: What exactly happened to Sophie Cunningham? Well, Robin highlighted the insights from an expert in sports medicine, namely Brian Sutterer.
“Of course, the player for Connecticut is going to fall into the outside of her right knee,” Stutterer started. “And what that’s most likely going to do, we can’t exactly see her foot position down here. But I think what this is causing is a forced valgus load from the outside of Cunningham’s knee pushing it inward. So basically, too much strain on the knee from the outside. ” Cunningham clutched her right knee immediately after coming into contact with Hartley.
“We can see a forced valgus load where a player falls into the outside of their knee, pushes it inward, can cause enough stress to tear the ACL. I’ll admit just the impact, the positioning of her leg. To me, did not look quite as significant for something like this. I think there’s a little bit more force coming in kind of from the backside push,” Sutterer added. “Another thing to consider is of course if the knee buckles inward, you’re going to have stretch on the inside portion of the joint. The MCL ligament sits on the inside of the joint. And so that can certainly cause some stretch in the MCL when the knee is pushed inward.”
Having observed the incident and noted the athlete’s reactions, the sports medic signalled towards an MCL ligament tear instead. “So a possible MCL injury. And then finally location or a kneecap dislocation. Similar mechanism. Whenever the knee is valgus forced inward, the patella has a tendency in its groove to obviously it wants to stay nice and neutral in its groove,” he stated.
“But when patella dislocations, kneecap dislocations happen, it’s usually because the patella comes to the outside. The lateral side of the troleia from a combination of the knee being pushed inward. And that’s another thing, especially with the way that Cunningham reacts with keeping her knee up in this flexed position,” he further explained. Calling it a patella dislocation, Brian Sutterer hinted at Cunningham suffering from the dislocation instead of an ACL tear.
While everyone awaits Cunningham’s MRI scan results to confirm the actual injury, does the incident indicate the guard’s inability to join the roster anytime soon? As Indiana Fever grapples with a string of serious injuries this season, can the newcomers step up and propel the team into the playoffs? Guess we’ll have to wait and watch.
WNBA legend praises Indiana Fever player for a massive win vs Connecticut Sun
After Indiana Fever overcame a two-game losing streak on Sunday, it was enough to send fans and reporters into a frenzy. In fact, the WNBA legend, Sheryl Swoopes too could not contain her excitement on Fever clinching 99-93 points. She took to X (former Twitter) and praised bluntly praised this athlete.
Dubbed as one of the most underrated players in the W, Kelsey Mitchell flipped the script in the team’s favor. After scoring 3 points in the first half, Sophie Cunningham’s unexpected exit fueled a sense of hunger and urgency in Mitchell and the team. What’s next had people gaping as Mitchell contributed a jaw-dropping 38 points to the roster.
“DAMN!!! Kelsey Mitchell is a PROBLEM! Helluva 2nd half!” This unfiltered 8-word message by Swoopes on X only cemented Kelsey Mitchell’s prowess and on-court dominance. Her experience, coupled with the right reads and strong possession against opponents, propelled the Fever towards a much-needed win.
As Sophie Cunningham, Aari McDonald, Sydney Colson, and Caitlin Clark deal with injuries, can Indiana Fever secure a seat in the playoffs? While Odyssey Sims displayed a promising run, can HC Stephanie White entertain the playoff run without Cunningham and Clark? Only time will tell.
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