New footage from the wild clash involving Caitlin Clark on Tuesday night shows that her friend and enforcer Sophie Cunningham was itching to get involved.
Chaos ensued in the second half of the Fever’s matchup with the Sun when Clark was poked in the eye by the Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon, with the Indiana star delivering a shove to her opponent in return.
Connecticut’s Marina Mabrey then escalated the situation further as she hip-checked Clark to the floor.
And new footage posted to X shows that Cunningham had to be held back from the sideline as she tried to rush in and defend Clark.
In the video, Cunningham – who was out of the game at the time – could be seen briefly trying to run towards the fracas before being intercepted by assistant coach Austin Kelly.
Kelly then held onto Cunningham for several seconds before the incident died down.
Sophie Cunningham (top right) had to be held back from racing to defend Caitlin Clark
A scuffle ensued after Clark was poked in the eye by Jacy Sheldon, before she shoved her back
However, Cunningham would get her revenge later in the game.
With Sheldon racing towards the hoop after a steal in the final minute, Cunningham wrapped her arms around Sheldon’s head and pulled her by her neck to the ground.
Another larger scuffle ensued, with Connecticut’s Lindsay Allen running over to defend her teammate and Sheldon popping straight up to shove Cunningham.
Ultimately, Cunningham, Sheldon, and Allen were all ejected.
Cunningham was also fined by the league afterwards for the foul, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
Mabrey also saw her technical foul (assessed for her shove on Clark) upgraded to a flagrant two foul.
Many fans praised Cunningham for standing up for her teammate.
That list included LA Rams pass rusher Jared Verse tweeted the video, saying, ‘THIS STANDING ON BUSINESS!!!!’
Others condemned Cunningham for the blatant foul and believed she went too far in defending Clark.
Clark and Sun center Tina Charles, who also got involved in the initial incident, were assessed double technical fouls as well.
Later in the game, Cunningham pulled Sun guard Jacy Sheldon to the ground by her neck
It led to a scuffle, which saw Cunningham, Sheldon, and Lindsay Allen get ejected
Clark and Cunningham are friends and the latter has been known to defend her teammate
The tension had been building from earlier in the game, as Clark and Sheldon found themselves in a feisty exchange, with the Fever star firing off a volatile message after Sheldon appeared to say: ‘You can’t do that.’
‘I can do whatever the f*** I want to do,’ Clark said to Sheldon before shoving her away.
Sheldon’s teammate Mabrey quickly stepped in and gave a little shove to Clark as she walked away from the confrontation. But no technical fouls were called in that exchange.
Ultimately, Indiana beat Connecticut 88-71 to earn a spot in the WNBA’s Commissioners Cup Championship.
Clark was typically impressive in the win, racking up 20 points and six assists, while Cunningham had five points and seven rebounds.
