Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham took an elbow to the face from Minnesota Lynx forward Nia Coffey and still drew the foul call Sunday as the WNBA’s dispute over biological males in women’s sports intensified inside and outside Target Center.
Officials reviewed the second-quarter play for a hostile act after Coffey’s right elbow struck Cunningham while the two battled for position. They found none and left a defensive foul on Cunningham. The play-by-play recorded the foul with 7:04 remaining in the second quarter.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy posted slow-motion video of the contact to X and wrote, “Sophie just got 17 of her teeth knocked out and they called her for the foul. Sick league.” Cunningham remained in the game and finished with three points in Indiana’s 108-100 loss.
Sophie just got 17 of her teeth knocked out and they called her for the foul. Sick league @CathyEngelbert #wnba pic.twitter.com/31WdXGXSHj
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 2, 2026
The Target Center crowd booed Cunningham throughout the game, according to The Associated Press. Her public profile had already surged after a viral on-court pointing gesture. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, her Adidas shoes sold out July 24 after the clip spread online.
Cunningham stands by defense of girls’ sports
The controversy began with a July 21 ESPN profile in which Cunningham rejected accusations that she hated people who identify as “transgender” and explained her position on female competition.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham told ESPN. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Cunningham stood by the remarks when reporters questioned her before Indiana’s July 22 game against the Connecticut Sun.
“I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. And so I’ll stand on what I said, and I’ll always believe that.”
She reinforced the message in a post whose caption read “I said what I said” and included a saluting-face emoji.
Coaches push back as league policy remains unclear
Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve publicly rejected Cunningham’s framing before Sunday’s game.
“It is not the case that we have ‘biological men’ in girls’ locker rooms,” Reeve said. “The way it’s being phrased, the innuendo there that transgender women are predators of some kind in the locker room. There’s a lot of narrative that is problematic that we need to address.”
Reeve wore a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt beneath her blazer during the game. She also spoke with Cunningham before tipoff and later described the exchange as civil.
“Both of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate,” Reeve said after the game.
Indiana head coach Stephanie White also declined to endorse Cunningham’s position when asked Friday.
“I don’t know that I would say I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint,” White said. “I don’t ever believe that exclusion is the answer. I just don’t.”
The WNBA’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement says “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but it does not define the term or expressly address eligibility for athletes who identify as “transgender,” ESPN reported. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that Idaho and West Virginia may separate school sports teams by biological sex without violating the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX.
Gaines says arena staff challenged her sign
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines attended Sunday’s game to support Cunningham and carried a small sign reading, “Sophie, Thank You – A Girl Mom.” An arena staff member told her to lower it because it included Cunningham’s name, Gaines told OutKick. Gaines said she had checked Target Center’s published sign rules and refused.
After the game, Cunningham joined Gaines and XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey for photographs and held the sign herself. Gaines posted one image with the message, “Little girls belong!”
Outside Target Center, video showed a demonstrator opposing Cunningham’s position grabbing an XX-XY Athletics shirt from a supporter. Security personnel intervened as a physical confrontation followed.
Clark keeps focus on basketball
Fever star Caitlin Clark declined to take a position after Sunday’s loss and said the team did not discuss the dispute in its locker room.
“I think it’s for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,” Clark said. “Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. So, we need to find an area to improve in that way.”
Provided by Dallas Express
