The Indiana Fever have been on a roll. Four straight wins, a roster clicking into form at the right time, and Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell combining for over 40 points in back-to-back games. Indiana looked like a team finding its ceiling. Then Sophie Cunningham reminded everyone that the ceiling might be higher than anyone thought.
Against the Toronto Tempo on Tuesday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Cunningham came off the bench and erupted for a season-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, going 6-of-7 from three to match her career high. The Fever won 113-91, setting a franchise record for points in regulation and extending their home winning streak to six games.
Mitchell led all scorers with 27 points on a remarkably efficient 9-of-11 shooting. Clark added 21 points and a season-high 14 assists, including a between-the-legs, around-the-back pass to Makayla Timpson in the second half that left the arena buzzing. On any other night, either performance would have been the story. On Tuesday, Cunningham outshone them both.
She opened with a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first quarter, putting Indiana up six. A five-point burst late in the second half stretched a one-point lead back to six. Another three with seconds remaining in the third pushed the Fever into double digits and effectively ended the game as a contest. Indiana led by as many as 24 late in the fourth, giving their starters meaningful rest during a stretch run that has demanded a lot from their top players.
The shooting tear did not begin Tuesday. Dating back to Saturday’s win over Connecticut, Sophie Cunningham made seven consecutive three-pointers before her lone miss against the Tempo. That streak left her three short of the WNBA record of 10 straight, set by Alex Bentley in 2013. Cunningham, however, was not talking about her own numbers after the game.
“We’re seeing what works,” she said. “We’re sharing the ball. I don’t think it’s just me. I think it’s our team as a whole.”
The context behind the shooting makes it more remarkable. Sophie Cunningham missed Thursday’s game against Chicago due to right elbow soreness and revealed postgame that she received a platelet-rich plasma injection to accelerate her recovery. Clark joked afterward that her teammate had a “brand new elbow.”
Cunningham put it more plainly:
“I really did get that fixed, and now I’m starting to stay in my shot a little bit.” Head coach Stephanie White kept it even simpler. “She’s tough as shit,” White said.
Sophie Cunningham’s Consistency Off the Bench Is Now Indiana’s Biggest X-Factor
Entering Tuesday, Sophie Cunningham was averaging 8.9 points per game on 47.9 percent shooting, third-best of her eight-year career. Productive numbers for a bench player, but not quite the fourth scoring option Indiana needs alongside Clark, Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston. The past two games have changed that conversation. Eleven points in the final two minutes against Connecticut, then a career-tying explosion against Toronto. That is not a hot streak. That is a player figuring something out at exactly the right time.
White made clear after the game that Cunningham’s value extends beyond shot-making.
“Sophie is just one of those players that can bring so much,” White said. “Her leadership has been outstanding. Her ability to knock down a shot is huge for us.”
When a player gives her team shooting, leadership, and toughness off the bench while recovering from an elbow injury, the head coach tends to notice.
Indiana improves to 9-5 on the season and has now won four straight. The Fever have also proven they can hold a big lead, something that had been an issue in recent wins. Tuesday’s margin stayed intact and grew. That matters for a team with genuine playoff ambitions. And if Sophie Cunningham keeps shooting like this, those ambitions are going to be very hard to slow down.
