DiJonai Carrington was assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected in the first quarter of the Chicago Sky's 90-86 loss to the Indiana Fever on Saturday afternoon at the United Center.
Sophie Cunningham was ahead of the pack on a breakaway when Carrington chased her down and swiped down with her left arm across the face and neck area. Cunningham landed on her backside without being able to break her fall. Officials called a flagrant 1 on the floor and upgraded it after review. The basket counted, and Cunningham added a free throw.
Cunningham got up and jumped in Carrington's face, giving her a shove before Makayla Timpson and security separated the two. The announcement to the arena cited a windup and a follow-through with a high potential for injury on a player in a vulnerable position. Carrington stood with her mouth open as the ruling was read, then walked to the locker room. Cunningham smiled and clapped before Monique Billings took her by the shoulders and steered her back toward the bench.
Crew chief Maj Forsberg said postgame that the crew judged the contact unnecessary and excessive to a player in a vulnerable position. Cunningham was not assessed a technical foul.
"We deemed her reaction to the severity of the contact to be acceptable," Forsberg said.
Carrington declined comment.
Cunningham said she believed Carrington fouled her intentionally, per Alissa Hirsh of the Chicago Sun-Times.
"Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary," Cunningham said. "I've never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent-up stuff. So, get your s--- off. That's fine. I can take it."
Fever coach Stephanie White, who coached Carrington in Connecticut, said she saw Carrington going for the ball.
"Look, it was a hard foul," White said. "It did happen, and I thought it was the right call. One of the things about [Carrington] is that she's going to play her butt off, man. She's going to compete. Nobody's going to go walking in for a layup. I don't oppose the hard foul, but I also don't think that she intentionally went for the neck."
Sky coach Tyler Marsh said Carrington was playing the ball.
Carrington had 8 points when she was ejected, going 3-of-3 from the field, 1-of-1 from 3-point range, and 1-of-1 at the free throw line. She also had 1 rebound. Chicago was leading when she checked in and trailed by 4 at the end of the quarter.
Saturday was Carrington's fifth game of the season. She sustained a mid-left foot sprain in Game 2 of Minnesota's first-round series against Golden State last September and missed the rest of the Lynx's postseason. She had surgery in October and a second procedure in April to remove hardware from the foot. Chicago signed her to a one-year contract April 12, and terms were not disclosed per team policy. She sat out the first 27 games and debuted July 30 against Connecticut, scoring 9 points off the bench in a 94-88 win.
Connecticut drafted Carrington with the 20th overall pick in the 2021 WNBA draft. Over four seasons and 131 games with the Sun she averaged 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. She was named Most Improved Player and to the All-Defensive First Team in 2024, a season in which she averaged 12.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists across 39 games. Last year she split 31 appearances between Dallas and Minnesota, averaging 9.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 21.9 minutes with 14 starts.
Cunningham drew a flagrant 2 of her own on June 17, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. With less than a minute left in Indiana's 88-71 win over Connecticut, she wrapped up Jacy Sheldon on a fast break and brought her to the floor. Sheldon and Lindsay Allen were also ejected. The league fined Cunningham on top of the standard flagrant 2 fine and issued no suspensions. Sheldon now plays for Chicago and scored 9 points on Saturday.
Cunningham said Carrington had not been on the roster when that happened and had no reason to take it up now, per the Sun-Times.
"I did that last year. Yeah, it's intentional, but [Carrington] wasn't even on the team," Cunningham explained. "She has no reason to be doing any of that… Good way to get her kicked out."
Chicago played without leading scorer Sydney Taylor, who is out with a groin injury. Natasha Cloud and Rachel Banham each scored 17 points, and Kamilla Cardoso had 14 points and 9 rebounds. The Sky won the fourth quarter 24-19 and cut the margin to 4.
Caitlin Clark scored 26 points with 4 rebounds and 11 assists for Indiana. Kelsey Mitchell led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting. Clark and Cloud were each assessed a technical foul, and Indiana was charged with a coach's technical.
Two days earlier, Indiana lost 86-84 at home to Las Vegas after leading by 20 in the second quarter.
Indiana is 20-12 and first in the Eastern Conference. Chicago is 12-20 and fifth. The Fever host the New York Liberty on Tuesday. The teams play again in Chicago on Aug. 23.
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