Over the three postseason games Sophie Cunningham played this season, she averaged 7.3 PPG and 1.3 RPG, but recently she attributed the poor performance to something beyond the WNBA. The Indiana Fever’s championship run ended with a Game 3 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs last week. So, as their season, full of roller-coaster rides, comes to an end, Sophie Cunningham reflected on the things this team should be proud of while pointing to FIBA for their early exit.

The 30-year-old guard opened up about this on the October 3 episode of her No Hesitation podcast.

“We were so good, and it was so much fun. It was so much fun, and the squad really loved each other. I don’t want to say this — I think FIBA kind of hurt our momentum a little bit. Maybe we peaked too soon… But we really did have a hell of a year, and I had so much fun. Kelsey (Mitchell) had a great year. Caitlin (Clark) had a phenomenal year. (Aliyah Boston), of course, always does AB things. But we do have a lot to be proud about.”

“It sucks because we’re all just so competitive and we just want a championship at the end of it. Like, none of this really matters — all these fun historic in-season stats because everyone just wants to win. I don’t know what the offseason holds. I don’t know. A lot of us are under free agency now, and so who knows? But looking back, I think one day, when we look back at this season, we’re going to be proud of what we did in the months of July and August,” Sophie Cunningham further added.

Now, blaming the FIBA break that every WNBA team went through might sound like an excuse, but the stats back what Sophie Cunningham is saying. Before the two-week break to make way for the 2026 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, the Fever were recording back-to-back wins. In their last 16 games before the World Cup, Indiana went 12-4 and finally started playing like anyone would have expected a team with three of the league’s best players to play.

But to play in the densely packed schedule of the World Cup, the Fever sent two of their top players, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, to Berlin. Both helped Team USA secure its fifth straight gold medal. Yet after returning from the intensity of the FIBA tournament, the Fever went 2-2 to close out their regular season, including one of their worst losses of the year. Indiana fell 86-66 to the Minnesota Lynx in its regular-season finale.

Still, as Sophie Cunningham said, the Fever certainly have a lot to be proud of. Indiana went 28-16 to end its season, a campaign in which the team dominated for much of the year. The Fever led the WNBA throughout the regular season in scoring, averaging 96.0 points per game, thanks in large part to their three-headed monster.

Caitlin Clark averaged a career-high 22.3 points per game, the third-best mark in the league, while also ranking second with 8.3 assists and adding 4.0 rebounds per game. Aliyah Boston also posted a career-best scoring average of 16.1 points, along with 8.0 rebounds per game. Then there was Kelsey Mitchell, who remained one of Indiana’s most reliable offensive weapons even when her teammates struggled. Mitchell averaged 24.7 points per game, second-best in the league.

So now, as they enter the offseason after a run with plenty to learn from, the Fever will look to chase a championship in 2027. They certainly have the caliber of players to do so, and this season already made that clear. However, there is still one uncertainty the organization will have to deal with – free agency.

Sophie Cunningham and Kelsey Mitchell are both set to become unrestricted free agents ahead of next season, and there is little doubt Indiana will try to retain them. But while re-signing Cunningham would be important, keeping Mitchell could present another problem for the organization.

This offseason, Boston signed a four-year, $6.3 million extension under the new CBA, while Mitchell signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax deal. If the Fever want to retain Mitchell, it could take nothing less than another supermax deal.

Clark, meanwhile, remains on her rookie contract through 2027, but her 2024 All-WNBA selection gives her a path toward a maximum-level deal under the EPIC provision. That could leave Indiana with limited flexibility under the salary cap as it tries to keep the core of a team that has already shown championship potential.

Yet for now, the Fever will look to rest and regroup after a long season before turning their attention to the worries that await them in the offseason. With free agency looming and important decisions ahead, Indiana will soon have to figure out how to keep this promising core together and make sure the lessons from 2026 fuel a stronger push in 2027.