Sophie Cunningham bins injury concerns after coming off the bench with left ankle injury in second half vs Mercury

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham made her return to PHX Arena for the first time since her trade from the Phoenix Mercury on Thursday. Although unable to get the win, Cunningham brushed off any injury concerns after coming off the bench in the second half.

Exiting the game with an apparent ankle injury in the second quarter, Cunningham re-entered the game and led the Fever in scoring. Indiana beat writer Chloe Peterson provided an update on the guard through a post on X/Twitter.

The Fever dropped their second straight game on Thursday, suffering a 95-60 blowout loss to the Mercury in Phoenix. After opening the month on a five-game win streak, Indiana has started to lose steam. To make matters worse, Aari McDonald was taken to the locker room in the fourth quarter with a suspected knee injury.

Cunningham was the small sliver of hope in an otherwise tumultuous outing for the Fever. The guard recorded 18 points, two rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes, while shooting 66.7% from the field. She also shot an impressive 62.5% from the three-point line, capping off a great individual performance.

Despite Cunningham's heroics, the Fever will be rearing to return to the win column. Their loss in Phoenix was their final game in a four-game away stretch and they will host the Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday.

Sophie Cunningham reacts to Fever’s mounting injuries after ankle scare against Phoenix

The Indiana Fever continue to face challenges with their roster's health amid their playoff push. Currently fifth in the standings, the team has been without Caitlin Clark for the last few weeks and lost Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald to injuries on Thursday.

However, Sophie Cunningham remained positive while discussing the mounting injuries and her ankle scare against Phoenix during a postgame interview.

"Yeah, I'm good. You know, um, I think we faced some adversity with some injuries this game. But you know what? We're used to that. We've had that at the beginning of the year. This is just another hump that we're going to get over, and we're going to be okay," she said (Timestamp- 0:25 onwards).

With three guards on the injury list, the Fever will likely sign a replacement on a hardship contract in the coming days.

About the author

Arian Kashyap is a basketball journalist at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience at Essentially Sports and Spice Bite and a Bachelor's in Physical Education and Sports Sciences.

Arian's favorite team is the Miami Heat and it’s mainly down to Dwyane Wade being his favorite player of all time. Arian loved how explosive Wade was as a player and he had all the attributes, whether that be shooting, defending or passing. Arian really liked how he won titles both with and without a dynasty behind him.

Arian has also worked with Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools and was the manager for a Delhi-based women’s team called Garwhal Untied. Garwhal won the Delhi league and were runners-up during his tenure.

Arian has judged essay writing competitions for the Commonwealth Students Welfare Group of India in 2023 and was a part of the U-14 team for the Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools academy that qualified for the AIFF Round in 2023.

When not working or watching sports, Arian likes riding his motorcycle and reading.

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Edited by Veer Badani