Sports
Fever rally for big win after Cunningham’s injury
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Indiana received another gut punch Sunday when guard Sophie Cunningham suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of their game against the Connecticut Sun, but the Fever did what they’ve been accustomed to all season in the face of adversity: fight.
Following Cunningham’s injury, Indiana mounted the largest comeback in franchise history, erasing a 21-point deficit to beat the Sun 99-93 in overtime.
“We came in at halftime, we talked about chipping away, being resilient,” said forward Aliyah Boston, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds. “That’s kind of been our story this entire season.”
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, WNBA teams were 29-1,722 all time when trailing by 20-plus points in a game entering Sunday.
“They’ve got something inside them you just can’t teach,” coach Stephanie White said. “They bring it out of each other. It allows us to go through these incredibly tough times that we’re going through and always gives us a chance.”
Every game matters at this point for the Fever (19-16), who are trying to hold on to playoff positioning without Caitlin Clark (groin) for the last month and after losing fellow point guards Aari McDonald and Sydney Colson to season-ending injuries in the same game on Aug. 7.
Indiana had dropped two straight home games to bottom-four teams in the standings entering Sunday’s road contest against the last-place Sun.
“There’s no other way,” Boston said. “If you spread apart, the season goes down quicker than anything else. We talk about with the injuries people are probably expecting us to just fold, and that’s not us.”
The Fever in large part have Kelsey Mitchell to thank after the All-Star guard caught fire in the second half Sunday. Mitchell rattled off 34 of her 38 points following halftime, tying a career high and registering the most points a WNBA player has scored this season.
“Speechless, really,” White said of Mitchell. “She just put us on her back.”
Cunningham suffered the injury early in the second period when Connecticut’s Bria Hartley fell into her right knee while trying to drive toward the basket. Cunningham hobbled on one leg clutching the knee before lying on the floor in pain.
The guard was surrounded by teammates for a few minutes before being assisted into the locker room, putting little weight on her right leg.
“I’m like, ‘Holy s—,'” White said of the moment.
Added Mitchell: “I felt like it was déjà vu. I just saw [Boston] on the ground covering somebody else up [following an injury].”
White said Cunningham will undergo an MRI on Monday.
The Fever managed just 29 points in the first half and trailed by 19 going into the locker room. But with a renewed focus and fueled by their teammate’s injury, they largely controlled the next 25 minutes on both ends, chipping away at the Sun’s advantage.
Indiana took better care of the ball, improved its spacing and saw recently acquired guard Odyssey Sims (19 points, 7 assists) get more comfortable as the game went on, while also locking in more on the defensive end.
The teams traded baskets in the final minute of regulation, with a Mitchell and-1 and Boston jumper helping force overtime. Mitchell then accounted for 10 of the team’s 15 points in the extra period.
“I really think that that’s the most resilient that we’ve ever been because of everything we’ve been through,” Mitchell said.
Undefeated Nebraska earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament bracket released Sunday.
The five-time national champion Huskers (30-0) have dominated this season, dropping just seven sets. They lead Division I in hitting percentage at .352.
Dani Busboom Kelly, who won NCAA titles as both a Nebraska player and assistant, took over at her alma mater this season after longtime Huskers coach John Cook retired. Busboom Kelly led Louisville to the NCAA final in 2024, where the Cardinals lost to Penn State.
The other No. 1 seeds are Kentucky, Texas and Pitt. The Wildcats have won one NCAA title, and the Longhorns have four. The Panthers reached the final four the past four seasons but lost in the semifinals each time.
Pitt and Stanford finished tied atop the ACC at 18-2, and the Cardinal won their head-to-head matchup 3-2 at Stanford on Nov. 14. But the Panthers’ overall body of work secured them the last No. 1 seed, while nine-time NCAA champion Stanford is the No. 2 seed in Texas’ region.
SEC regular-season and tournament champion Kentucky defeated Texas 3-2 in the conference tournament final. They would face each other in the national semifinals should they advance that far.
Defending national champion Penn State, the only school that has appeared in every NCAA tournament dating back to the event’s start in 1981, is a No. 8 seed in Texas’ quarter of the bracket. St. Thomas (Minnesota) and Toledo are both making their first appearance in the tournament.
The Big 12 led all leagues with 10 teams in the field, the Big Ten has nine, the ACC seven and the SEC five.
Early-round matches will be held from Dec. 4 to 6 on campus sites. The regionals, scheduled for Dec. 11-14, will be hosted by the four highest seeds still standing in each quarter of the bracket.
The final four is at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, for the third time in the tournament’s history. It was there that Penn State won the championship in 2010 and Nebraska won its most recent title in 2017.
The national semifinals are Dec. 18 (ESPN), and the championship match is Dec. 21 (ABC).
The Commanders return from their bye week searching for their first victory since Oct. 5. It won’t be easy against the Broncos, who have won eight straight.
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Ruben Amorim has said that Manchester United are “stealing” set-piece routines from other clubs after goals from two free-kicks helped earn a valuable 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
United came from behind at Selhurst Park thanks to second-half goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount, both of which came from Bruno Fernandes set plays.
Amorim’s team have now scored 10 Premier League goals from set-pieces this season — joint most with table-toppers Arsenal.
“We work a lot,” Amorim said when asked about United’s improvement at set-pieces.
“We have more time to work, we work a lot and we learn a lot in England.
“I think you are used to seeing that, but when you come for the Premier League you learn a lot with other teams how to do it and we are stealing a lot of things to score goals.”
United looked destined for another set-back following Monday’s defeat to 10-man Everton when Crystal Palace went in at half-time 1-0 up thanks to a retaken penalty from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
But there was marked improvement in their performance after the break as Amorim’s team recorded just their second league win away from home since March.
“I just said to the players we need to be more alive and you can feel that,” Amorim said.
– Mason Mount, Joshua Zirkzee inspire Man United comeback win at Crystal Palace
– Zirkzee leads Man United comeback in game of two halves vs. Palace
– Premier League table
“So if you are more alive, you are in more places, you are near the ball more often. I think everyone did that.
“But we also need to understand that the opponent was tired also in the second half.
“And when you increase the rhythm and the opponent gets tired a little bit, suffers right away a goal, you felt that we had the control of the game and that’s it.”
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