@sophie_cham/Instagram

DiJonai Carrington was ejected after committing a Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham during the Chicago Sky’s 90-86 loss to the Indiana Fever on Saturday. The foul came late in the first quarter as Cunningham attempted a fast-break layup and Carrington’s left arm struck her in the face and neck area, sending her to the floor.

The basket counted, but officials reviewed the contact and upgraded the original foul to a Flagrant 2. The ruling ended Carrington’s night after just four minutes, during which she made all three of her field-goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, and scored eight points.

Cunningham remained in the game and finished with three points on 1-of-3 shooting in 17 minutes. She also recorded one rebound and two steals, but her playing time was limited as Indiana held on for its 20th win of the season.

After the game, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE” on social media while tagging the Fever. The post came after the physical incident involving Cunningham and drew attention because of its reference to race.

Cunningham responded to Carrington’s message, saying “I think the league is taking care of that. This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason even to play that card.”

“Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary. I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent up stuff. So get your shit off. That’s fine. I can take it,” Cunningham added, per Kareem Copeland. “Yeah, it’s intentional. She wasn’t even on the team. She has no reason to be doing any of that. So, good way to get her kicked out.”

“I don’t even know her. She wasn’t even on the team last year when all that was going on. But I do think when people play the Fever, we’re nationally televised, there’s a lot of eyes on us and people just want attention. And that’s her just trying to get attention,” she said.

The ejection significantly altered Chicago’s rotation in a game decided by four points. The Sky entered the fourth quarter trailing 71-62 before outscoring Indiana 24-19 in the final period, but they could not complete the comeback.

Indiana received 27 points, five rebounds and two steals from Kelsey Mitchell, while Caitlin Clark finished with 26 points and 11 assists. Aliyah Boston added 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Makayla Timpson scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Chicago was led by Natasha Cloud, who scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added four assists. Kamilla Cardoso recorded 14 points and nine rebounds, while Rachel Banham scored 17 points off the bench.

The Fever shot 51% from the field and 41% from three-point range, compared with 46% and 41% for the Sky. Indiana also finished with a 34-30 rebounding advantage and committed 13 turnovers to Chicago’s 12.

The loss dropped Chicago to 12-20, while Indiana improved to 20-12. The result kept the Fever nine games above .500 while Chicago remained eight games below .500.