The Indiana Fever’s season has come to an end after they suffered a 94-83 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 3 of the first round. According to Sophie Cunningham, however, one specific event “hurt” the team as they were preparing for the WNBA playoffs.
To recall, the WNBA season paused to give way to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which started on Sept. 4 and ended on Sept. 13. Several WNBA players took part in the tournament to represent their respective nations.
Team USA emerged as champions, thanks to its deep roster that featured Fever stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. Indiana head coach Stephanie White was also part of the staff as an assistant coach under Kara Lawson.
Cunningham, however, expressed her belief that the WNBA break for FIBA did more harm to Indiana than good. She felt that the Fever had the momentum prior to that, which they could have probably carried into the playoffs had the season continued normally.
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“We were so good, and it was so much fun,” Cunningham said of the Fever and the season they had. “It was so much fun, and the squad really loved each other. I don’t want to say this. I think FIBA kind of hurt our momentum a little bit. Maybe we peaked too soon. … But we really did have a hell of a year, and I had so much fun.”
Supporting Cunningham’s point, the Fever went 12-4 in 16 games leading into the FIBA break. They even beat playoff teams such as the Aces, Atlanta Dream, New York Liberty and Dallas Wings during that span.
In the four games they played after the season resumed, Indiana went 2-2. In the playoffs against the Aces, they lost the series 2-1.
While Cunningham’s take is certainly interesting and could have some merit, she doesn’t want to downplay the campaign they had. She emphasized that despite their early playoff exit, they can be “proud” of their performance.
“It sucks because we’re all just so competitive and we just want a championship at the end of it,” Cunningham added. “Like, none of this really matters—all these fun historic in-season stats—because everyone just wants to win. But looking back, I think one day, when we look back at this season, we’re going to be proud of what we did in the months of July and August.”
