After a dominant 99-81 win over the Atlanta Dream (12-8) from Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday night, Indiana Fever (10-10) guard Sophie Cunningham spoke about the team’s ability to adjust with and without Caitlin Clark on the floor and her feelings on the overall aggressiveness offensively displayed against the Dream.
When asked about how she felt Indiana responded to Caitlin Clark’s postgame comments on the lack of energy shown during Wednesday’s ugly loss to Golden State, Cunningham said that the Fever were playing with consistency during Clark’s most-recent injury absence, but needed to learn how to adjust with the former Hawkeye back in the lineup while keeping their rhythm.
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“Yeah, I think that our team kind of got into groove, honestly, when Cait [Caitlin Clark] got hurt. We were playing good offense, good defense, but we’re a whole different team when she isn’t [hurt]. So we have to learn how to adjust, how to get her involved, how to keep people who are hot, hot. So just kind of learning that and then staying consistent in that,” Cunningham said.
She added that while the adjustment will figure itself out, the self-preparation and overall in-game execution is something the team needs to rely on moving forward.
“But the things that we can control are our effort, our energy, boxing out, defensive scouts, and that’s what we’ve got to hang our hat on,” Cunningham said.
While Kelsey Mitchell’s 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field, 3-for-7 from 3-point territory, and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line led the Fever in scoring Friday night, Cunningham provided a significant energy boost in her 30 minutes off the bench with her career-high rebounding performance and clutch shooting from beyond the arc.
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The sixth-year guard scored 16 points on 5-for-9 from the field, 4-for-5 from deep, and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to go along with 10 rebounds, one assist, and one steal. All four of her 3-pointers came at impactful moments in the game, providing a jolt to Indiana’s momentum throughout the game.
Regarding what Indiana can do moving forward to maintain its defensive intensity throughout an entire game, Cunningham responded by saying it starts with finding consistency in pre-game scouting of opponents, which translates to setting and maintaining an aggressive tone on both ends from start to finish.
“I think it all starts with communication. It really starts at practice with defensive scout, locking in, knowing personnel. And we haven’t been very good at that this year. You’ve seen spurts of it, that we were really good, our word is consistency. Together and consistency, and so for us, it’s being aggressive at the point of attack,” Cunningham said. “I really do think that when we’re aggressive from the jump, it sets the tone for the whole game… I really do think that when we’re in it together and we’re aggressive on both ends, we’re just a really tough team.”
Cunningham and the Fever will look to maintain their defensive aggressiveness and unified offensive attack against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings on Sunday as Indiana wraps up a five-game homestand on Sunday.
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If the Fever can repeat their dominant style of play en route to a victory against the Wings, it will allow Indiana to carry a tremendous amount of confidence heading into the WNBA All-Star break.
Sunday’s game from Gainbridge Fieldhouse against Dallas will begin at noon CT and will be broadcast on ABC.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Sophie Cunningham, Fever looking to replicate performance vs Dream
