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Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham found themselves in the limelight despite their absence in Game 3, where the Fever pulled off a surprise victory over the Dream in the first round.
After their unexpected 87-85 win on Thursday, Clark and her Indiana teammates made a “W” sign with their hands while leaving the Gateway Center court. Meanwhile, Cunningham grabbed attention during the broadcast by standing firm near midcourt, even as a police officer asked her to move. Clark was nearby as Indiana’s Odyssey Sims stayed on the court, having earlier drawn a foul.
Both Clark, dealing with a groin injury, and Cunningham, suffering from a right knee injury, have been sidelined for the season. However, the Fever, the sixth seed, will now advance after defeating the third-seeded Dream.
Indiana exited the court to boos following their win, which prompted Clark and others to turn around to different fans and flash their “W” signs.
And with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Cunningham waited just behind the midcourt line following Allisha Gray’s foul and seemingly was told to not move any further — though it’s unclear what exactly, if anything, was said between her and the police officer during the brief exchange.
Cunningham reposted a photo of the encounter that included a caption of, “THIS IS SOME AURA.”
The Fever, who entered the season as potential title contenders after hiring Stephanie White as head coach and landing Cunningham to complement the rest of their lineup, proceeded to struggle for most of the year as they lost five players to season-ending injuries.
Among those was Clark, their superstar who dealt with injuries to both groins and her left quad before getting shut down earlier this month.
So Sims producing 16 points and dishing the assist to Aliyah Boston on the game-winning basket Thursday was surprising.
The Fever — led by Kelsey Mitchell’s 24 points — winning two straight games against the Dream injected some chaos into the WNBA playoff picture, too, given that Clark and Cunningham were both stuck on the bench.
“We say it pretty much ad nauseam, but it’s the resilience, the flexibility, the welcome and inclusive nature of this team, their selflessness to pull for the we over the me, the ability to let each teammate be who they are and shine at their best and to lift them up,” White told reporters postgame. “In those moments, that’s good for 12-15 points. It is. You couple that with the resilience, the toughness, the grit, the fight, the scrappiness, and you always give yourself a chance.”
The Fever will face the Aces during their first semifinals appearance since 2015.