Cameras Catch Coach Holding Back Sophie Cunningham During Marina Mabrey-Caitlin Clark Incident

This caused many referees, coaches and players from both teams to run towards Clark, Sheldon and Mabrey to defuse the situation. Meanwhile, a fan caught Fever guard Sophie Cunningham attempting to run to the action, but coach Austin Kelly held her back. After the incident was called, Cunningham patted Kelly on the back as he let her go. 

"bro i need y’all to look at sophie at the back ," the fan account who posted the moment wrote on X. "coach austin had to hold her back ."

The moment made its way around social media, which caught fans' attention. In general, the altercation has had many mixed reactions from fans and sports analysts. 

"Sophie was ready to throw hands and they told her to wait till the last seconds of the game!!!" one fan noticed. "I love Sophie, finally cc has back up."

"Didn’t get the nickname Spicy Sophie out of nowhere," one fan posted. 

"Make more Cunningham jerseys NOW!!" another commented, referring to all of Cunningham's jerseys selling out on the Fever's official merch website. 

One quote-tweeted the video and wrote, "she's a real one."

"IM SCREAMING she was rlly gonna start wackin ppl," another posted. 

"Love to see it," another fan account wrote. 

Cunningham later got ejected from the game after a physical fight with Sheldon during a fastbreak play.

The Mizzou alum committed a flagrant foul 2 and is now facing further punishment from the league for her actions. According to the WNBA rulebook, a flagrant foul 2 is defined as "unnecessary and excessive contact" that warrants an immediate ejection from the game.

The Fever is set to play against the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday at the Chase Center in San Francisco at 10 p.m. ET.