Sophie Cunningham: What Indiana Fever Must Fix Ahead of the 2026 WNBA Playoffs

Sophie Cunningham said Indiana Fever are ready to learn lessons from what she described as “one of our worst games of the entire season” after the 93-77 loss to the Washington Mystics. The team gave up 34 points in the first quarter and never led, a result that puts Indiana on course for a lower seed in the 2026 WNBA playoffs. Her remarks came during Thursday’s episode of the “No Hesitation” podcast with Drew Hanlen.

As Bleacher Report reports, Cunningham said around the 8:40 mark that the main problem was the poor start: “We need to strike first. We need to set the tone from the beginning,” and added that first-quarter initiative must improve. In Sunday’s meeting, the Fever shot just 21% from three-point range, despite leading the league this season with a 39.3% average from distance. She emphasized ball movement and assists, stressing that when five, six or seven players score in double figures the team works better; co-host Drew Hanlen also noted that Cunningham is more efficient when she gets more minutes on the floor.

Indiana responded with a blowout win over the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday, a game in which the Lynx pulled their starters for the second half. The Fever now prepare for Thursday’s final regular-season game in Minneapolis; a win would lock up the 5th seed, while a loss combined with a Washington Mystics win over the Chicago Sky could drop them to 6th, according to ESPN’s Michael Voepel. Cunningham hopes the team will come out with a stronger start when the matchups begin at 8:00 PM ET.

According to Bleacher Report, Cunningham stressed it is better that these problems surfaced now than during the playoffs, and that the team’s focus is on regaining concentration from the very start of games to avoid repeating the mistakes.

Source: Bleacher Report