Sophie Cunningham highlights Indiana Fever’s biggest issue

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham resumed her role as a part-time analyst for USA Network’s coverage of the WNBA this season. She joined the broadcast for Wednesday’s doubleheader as the Fever took a day off in between games. Indiana is coming off a 105-95 road win against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday. They are now headed to Oregon for Thursday’s matchup against the Portland Fire.

Apart from providing her insights on Wednesday’s WNBA games, Cunningham also discussed her team’s state of affairs. She acknowledged how Indiana has been firing on all cylinders of late. The Fever have won four in a row and five out of their last six. They are averaging 111.0 points per game over those five victories.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) in the second half against the New York Liberty.

Sophie Cunningham wants Indiana Fever to step up defensively

Speaking during Wednesday’s WNBA broadcast, Cunningham praised her star teammates. She also emphasized how role players like herself need to remain consistent on the offensive end.

“I just think that people are ready,” she said. “You have stars on your team with Aliyah Boston, with Caitlin Clark, with Kelsey Mitchell, and they’re going to score. They’re going to do their part, but it’s us role players that, when the ball is getting to you, you need to be able to knock down your shots and do your thing as well.”

Cunningham has been a key part of the Fever’s rotation this season. She is averaging 9.4 points on 47.5% shooting, 24 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 22.9 minutes off the bench. She has also been a real threat from beyond the arc, knocking down 1.8 triples per game on a 44.0% clip.

Cunningham, however, highlighted her team’s biggest area for improvement: defense.

“But yes, offense is clicking. I think it’s going to continue to click,” she continued. “My biggest thing for us is our defense. Too many people are scoring way too many points against us. That’s something we have to shore up on. We’ve been struggling all season with that. And so I think our second half of the season is definitely defensive-minded.”

Cunningham and Co. conceded 95 points to Seattle on Tuesday. As she said, that’s just not good enough. The Fever will be looking to tighten up their defensive schemes on Friday against Portland.