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About SophieIndependent

Status page · last updated 18 September 2026

A torn knee ligament
ended her 2025 season.

Sophie Cunningham suffered a torn MCL — the medial collateral ligament — in her right knee in August 2025, which ended her 2025 season. She was hurt at Connecticut on 17 August 2025 and ruled out for the rest of that season two days later, after 30 games. She returned to play for Indiana in 2026, starting with the opener on 9 May 2026, and as of 18 September 2026 she is on the Fever roster and playing.

What happened, in order

From the injury to her current status

Editorial illustration looking from a basketball arena tunnel towards an illuminated court, with a knee brace on the bench.
AI-generated editorial illustration of Sophie Cunningham's 2025 knee injury and return. Not a documentary photograph.

  1. The game

    17 Aug 2025

    Hurt her knee in the second quarter at Connecticut and did not return to the game.

  2. Season status

    19 Aug 2025

    Indiana's roster update ruled her out for the rest of the 2025 season, after 30 games.

  3. The diagnosis

    19 Aug 2025

    A season-ending tear of the right-knee MCL, reported by ESPN; the club release did not name it.

  4. Back on court

    9 May 2026

    Played Indiana's 2026 opener, her first game since the injury, having been declared healthy in April.

  5. Now

    18 Sep 2026

    On Indiana's roster and playing through the 2026 season, having returned after the 2025 injury.

Documented dates only, in order, each with the status it established. Original graphic by this publication.

The basketball consequence

What the injury cost her

The 2025 season

Her first Indiana season ended after 30 games. She took no part in the Fever's 2025 playoff run, and she had already won the Commissioner's Cup with the club that July.

She returned to Indiana on a one-year contract for 2026 after entering free agency, and the club confirmed in April 2026 that she was healthy for the start of the season.

A separate, much smaller absence

In June 2026 she missed one game with a sore right elbow — listed as questionable on 10 June, ruled out on 11 June and back in the line-up on 13 June. The soreness was discussed publicly by the club's head coach and affected her shooting earlier in the season. It was not an extended absence and is unrelated to the knee.

The 2026 season: she played it through

The torn MCL happened in August 2025 and ended her 2025 season. It did not affect 2026 in the same way: she returned in May 2026, played 43 regular-season games, and also played in all three of Indiana's playoff games against the Las Vegas Aces. Indiana lost that first-round series 2–1, and its season ended on 1 October 2026. Her contract covered the 2026 season only. How her 2026 numbers compare with 2025.

The full story of the comeback →Which team she plays for →Her Indiana seasons →

Status last checked 18 September 2026. Injury and season-ending status: Game recap, Indiana at Connecticut, 17 August 2025 (AP/WNBA); ESPN reporting of 17 and 19 August 2025; Indiana Fever release — roster update, 19 August 2025. Return: Columbia Daily Tribune — how Cunningham played in the Fever season opener (9 May 2026); Marca — Fever confirm Cunningham healthy for the start of the 2026 season (19 April 2026). Current status: Sporting News — Fever welcome Cunningham back before the WNBA return (10 September 2026) (report) and Sporting News — what Cunningham's return from injury means for the Fever (13 June 2026). Because this is a changing situation, the date above is part of the answer.