**Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham Fires Back at A’ja Wilson After Salty Comments Following Game 1 Loss**
In Game 1 of the WNBA semifinal series between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces, the Fever stunned the red-hot Aces with a big win, powered by elite plays on both ends of the floor. A’ja Wilson, who had just been named the 2025 WNBA MVP hours before the game, struggled to find her rhythm, finishing with only 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting.
Throughout the game, Aliyah Boston served as the primary defender on Wilson, holding the MVP to just two made shots out of 11 attempts when guarded by Boston. Despite this tough defense, Wilson told reporters after the game that she simply had a bad shooting night, omitting any mention of Boston’s impact.
Wilson’s comment did not sit well with the Fever’s injured star Sophie Cunningham, who didn’t hesitate to fire back. Speaking to her co-host West Wilson on the “Show Me Something” podcast, Cunningham said:
> “Aces gave, they had media the next day and they gave us no credit. Like there’s like a week, especially like A’ja is like ‘oh! I just played bad.’ I’m like, ‘dude AB had you like in clamps my girl.’” [Timestamp 1:30]
While Cunningham called out Wilson’s dismissal of the Fever’s defense, she was quick to acknowledge the Aces’ prowess after their dominant Game 2 blowout win.
The two teams will face off again in a decisive Game 3 on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, setting the stage for an intense finish to the series.
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**Bria Hartley Finally Addresses Sophie Cunningham’s Season-Ending Injury**
Sophie Cunningham’s season-ending injury during a game against the Connecticut Sun last August sparked outrage among Fever fans, many of whom blamed Bria Hartley—who accidentally fell into Cunningham’s legs during the play. Cunningham’s mother and a large segment of the Fever fanbase labeled Hartley a “disgruntled player,” fueling a wave of negative reactions.
On Thursday, Hartley opened up about the fallout during an interview on the “Good Follow” podcast. She admitted she was unaware she had made contact with Cunningham at the moment of the play.
> “I didn’t even realize that I hit Sophie in the moment,” Hartley said. “I was thinking it was Kelsey Mitchell and then, when I got back up, I saw she was down.”
Hartley also described the challenge of dealing with the backlash from fans, revealing that she had to disable comments on her social media to shield herself from negativity.
> “After that, though, there was a lot of messages. You know how fans are,” she added. “People are going to have their narratives. People are going to say what they want. But you see it all. It’s hard not to see it, to be honest, when it’s flooding all of my posts. There was a point where I turned off my comments.”
Prior to Hartley’s comments, Cunningham publicly defended her, emphasizing that the two players were on good terms and that Hartley did not fall on her intentionally.
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The Fever-Aces series continues to provide plenty of drama both on and off the court, with fans eagerly awaiting Friday’s pivotal Game 3 showdown.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/us/wnba/news-ab-clamps-girl-sophie-cunningham-calls-a-ja-wilson-turning-salty-game-1-loss-fever