Sophie Cunningham calls out WNBA refs for 'not protecting' Caitlin Clark

Sophie Cunningham is sticking up for Caitlin Clark and the narrative that WNBA officials are to blame for the physicality against her from opposing players. Tuesday’s game between the Indiana Fever and Connecticut Sun saw several instances of this, including one that resulted in Cunningham being ejected.

Clark was not on the floor during that instance, when Cunningham wrapped up Jacy Sheldon for a hard foul that took her to the ground. Sheldon got up and charged her, resulting in Cunningham grabbing her hair as several other players got involved.

It happened with less than a minute remaining, and many speculated that it was retaliation from an earlier incident in the third quarter where Sheldon poked Clark in the eye resulting in a shoving match involving multiple players. Cunningham addressed the topic in a recent media availability, claiming she was simply sticking up for Clark.

“During that, it was just a part of the game,” she said. “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 protecting the star player of the WNBA. So at the end of the day, I’m gonna protect my teammates. That’s what I do and I’m a team player.”

“It’s been a build up for a couple of years now, of them not protecting the star player of the WNBA.” pic.twitter.com/FOavJEu4qY

— Ken Swift (@kenswift) June 21, 2025

Things seemed to be brewing from the first quarter, when Clark and Sheldon exchanged words and Clark gave the Sun guard a slight shove. It later came to a head after Sheldon poked Clark in the eye during that third quarter incident, with the contact appearing to be incidental.

However, Sheldon also gave Clark a bump after the fact while she was still tending to her eye, resulting in the Fever star shoving her back. Things escalated to an extreme from there when Marina Mabrey came barreling in and shoulder checked Clark to the ground.

Surprisingly, no players were ejected as a result of that scuffle, which may have led to the more physical behavior to end the game. Fever coach Stephanie White certainly seemed to think so, saying it was only natural for Sophie Cunningham to have Caitlin Clark’s back after the prior events in the game.

“I think it was pretty obvious that stuff was brewing,” she said. “When the officials don’t get control of the ball game, when they allowed that stuff to happen — and it’s been happening all season long, it’s not just this game — this is what happens. You’ve got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do and when you allow them to play physical and you allow these things to happen, they’re gonna compete and they’re gonna have their teammates’ backs.”