Sophie Cunningham saw her second season with the Indiana Fever come to an end on Tuesday, losing the first-round series 2-1 to A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces after a 94-83 Game 3 loss. Now, Cunningham sees her one-year, $665,000 contract with the Fever come to an end, making her an unrestricted free agent going into the offseason.
Since being traded from the Phoenix Mercury in 2025, Cunningham has been a big addition for Indiana. In 43 games for the Fever this season, she averaged 7.9 points on 46.0% shooting, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. But while her minutes increased in the playoffs, her numbers went down, tallying 7.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists through three games.
But before Cunningham became a star in the Fever and the WNBA, she made a name for herself in college with the Missouri Tigers.
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Cunningham grew up in the town of Columbia, Missouri, which happens to be the same town as the University of Missouri. So the Fever star elected to play for her hometown school for four years from 2015 to 2019. And throughout her career with the Tigers, Cunningham averaged 17.0 points on 50.1% shooting, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists, earning three first-team All-SEC honors along the way.
And on Saturday, just days after Indiana was eliminated from the playoffs, Cunningham returned to Columbia for Missouri’s college football game. The former Tigers star rode through the streets in the back of a truck, waving to fans before eventually even taking the field at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
And No. 25 Missouri would end up taking down the No. 8 Florida Gators 45-17, improving to 4-1 on the 2026 season.
“A visit from the mayor, @sophaller 👋,” Mizzou Athletics wrote on X.
With the Fever’s season over, Cunningham could remain in Columbia to attend Missouri’s next game on Oct. 10 against the Texas A&M Aggies.
