Guard Sophie Cunningham was given a controversial flagrant foul on Paige Bueckers in the Dallas Wings-Indiana Fever game.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts during the third quarter against the Brazil National Team at Carver-Haweye Arena.
The Indiana Fever are taking on the Dallas Wings in the hopes of remaining in the playoff hunt. However, guard Sophie Cunningham committed a flagrant foul on rookie Paige Bueckers early on in the contest that was a rather controversial call.

Cunningham went to contest Bueckers’ three-point shot but ended up getting a bit too close to the Wings guard. As a result, Sophie Cunningham stepped into Bueckers’ zone, causing the 23-year-old rookie to land on Cunningham’s foot. That’s something that is not allowed, and the referees called a foul.

However, things took a turn when officials called a flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham. The play didn’t look intentional, but the referees felt it was necessary to call it. As a result, Bueckers got three free-throw attempts while the Wings also got the ball back, according to Fever reporter Tony East.

“Flagrant ruling indeed. Paige with a trio of free throws, then Wings ball.”

Typically, flagrant fouls are called when the officials determine the act was intentional, or if one player hits another on the head. Neither of those situations occurred, which is what makes the call controversial. At the very least, Sophie Cunningham was not ejected from the contest, but the Fever star cannot commit another flagrant or technical foul, as a second one would remove her from the game.

Tuesday’s flagrant foul call is Sophie Cunningham’s second this season. The first came against the Connecticut Sun when she went viral for getting into a spat with several Sun players after they hit Caitlin Clark with hard fouls earlier in the contest. That was deemed a flagrant 2, and Cunningham was removed from the game immediately.

So far this season, Cunningham has averaged 8.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game while owning a 48.1% field goal percentage and shooting 43.9% from beyond the three-point line (stats do not include Tuesday’s game vs. the Wings). She has played well for the Fever so far, as she has played a key role off the bench.