Sophie Cunningham injury: Caitlin Clark reacts to Indiana star missing the remainder of the season

Caitlin Clark is devastated for Indiana Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham following Tuesday’s news. The team announced that Cunningham will miss the remainder of this season after suffering what was later confirmed to be a torn MCL in her right knee.

It’s a difficult pill to swallow for a team that has already been hit be several injuries this season. Clark shared her reaction and sent a heartfelt message to Cunningham in her recent Instagram story.

“Love you always, Soph,” she wrote.

Cunningham is the third Fever player in the past month to suffer a season-ending injury. Guards Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson both went down during a July 30 loss to the Phoenix Mercury.

The injury occurred when Sun guard Bria Hartley crashed into Cunningham on a drive to the basket. Hartley seemingly fell onto the lower part of Cunningham’s leg, causing the Fever star to hobble away on one leg while clutching her injured knee.

Eventually, Cunningham fell to the floor and had to be helped to the locker room. She didn’t return to the game. With Cunningham out, the Fever rallied together and mounted a 21-point comeback, the largest in the franchise’s history.

While the Fever were able to pull out a win on Sunday, it came with a major loss due to Cunningham’s injury. The former Missouri standout has been pivotal to the team’s success this season, averaging 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 47.7% from the field and 44.3% from beyond the arc.

In addition to Sophie Cunningham, Caitlin Clark herself is dealing with a right groin injury and has not played since July 15. She has missed 21 total games this season, including 13 straight.

Clark is still without an official timetable to return with around three weeks remaining in the regular season. Fever coach Stephanie White gave an update recently, saying that “the hope” was that Clark could return sometime in that span.

For now, the Fever made some moves by bringing in Odyssey Sims and signing Shey Peddy to a seven-day hardship contract. Peddy, a six-year WNBA veteran, most recently appeared with the LA Sparks averaging 5.0 points and 2.7 assists over six games on a hardship contract.

The Fever will hope those players can hold things down for the next few games until Clark is able to make her return. Their next game comes Friday against the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ION.