It’s been a rough stretch for the Indiana Fever. The team suffered their seventh loss of the 2025 WNBA season on June 26, falling 85-75 to the Los Angeles Sparks, a game that saw standout scorer Kelsey Mitchell drop 20 points.
The real shock came before tip-off, however, when it was announced that Caitlin Clark would sit out due to a left groin injury. With growing pressure and a packed schedule, the team’s struggles are drawing attention, and now, another Fever player has spoken out.
Sophie Cunningham Comments on the Fever’s Demanding Schedule
In a candid postgame interview following the loss to the Sparks, veteran forward Sophie Cunningham did not hold back.
“I think so far this season we’ve had a lot of distractions, you can call it some injuries, don’t know who’s playing, but I think that’s really good for us. Let’s go through adversity early, let’s learn from it. Good news is we’re not going to peak too early, so I mean, that’s a positive,” said Cunningham during the interview.
Addressing the challenges the team has faced, Cunningham spoke about just how draining the past few weeks have been and what it means for the Fever to be targeted on everyone’s calendar.
“It’s not an excuse. Everyone’s playing back-to-back. Everyone has this kind of rough schedule. For us it’s, we get another opportunity tomorrow and we got to capitalize on it. Dallas is a team that’s hungry for a win, and we talk about this. We are circled on everybody’s schedule. No one likes us, right? So everyone in our locker room, that’s the only type of people that we have that we can lean on,” added Cunningham during the interview.
The Fever’s current situation makes it easy to see where Cunningham’s words stem from. Since their game against the Golden State Valkyries on June 19, the team has been on a grueling run, playing six games in just 11 days, with nonstop travel from coast to coast. With such a chaotic schedule, there has been little time for recovery, let alone maintaining any sort of rhythm.
On top of the fatigue from the travel, the Fever have also been juggling changes off the court. The team recently waived veteran forward DeWanna Bonner, who was brought in during the offseason to help provide leadership and experience. In her place, they brought back point guard Aari McDonald.
As for the June 26 clash against the Los Angeles Sparks, the game was a tale of two halves. The Fever came out strong, controlling the pace early and taking a four-point lead into halftime.
They extended that lead to 10 points in the third quarter, but the fourth quarter told a different story. The Sparks stormed back with a blistering 35-point final quarter, catching Indiana off guard and stealing the win on the Fever’s home floor.
Now, the Fever have no time to dwell on what could have been. They’re headed straight into another matchup, this time against the Dallas Wings on June 27 at the American Airlines Center.
