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The Fever celebrated Sophie Cunningham’s 30th birthday with a cake after beating the Atlanta Dream 95-91 in an overtime thriller Sunday night.
Her teammates sang “Happy Birthday” before she blew out “3” and “0” candles on a piece of vanilla cake in the locker room at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, as seen in a behind-the-scenes video shared by the team’s X account.
“An OT dub & a birthday celebration for Sophie,” the caption read.
Her teammates Caitlin Clark, Ty Harris, and Lexie Hull were seen singing “Happy Birthday” and clapping in the clip.
Cunningham tallied three points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes, and her defensive prowess helped fuel the Fever’s comeback in overtime.
Clark led the Fever with 26 points and nine assists.
Indiana veteran combo guard Kelsey Mitchell finished with 20 points.
Clark became a viral meme when she was seen laughing after Dream All-Star Angel Reese missed a put-back layup under the basket that would have clinched the win for Atlanta in regulation.
Cunningham became a lightning rod amid debates of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model voiced support for barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports in an ESPN profile published in July.
Cunningham’s comments sparked arena protests supporting her stance at WNBA games.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham said. “I think that I am here to extend love.
“But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.
“I’m very much in the middle. I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides. And that’s all I’ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume.”
The Fever (23-12), sitting in fourth place in the WNBA standings, play the Tempo (10-23) Tuesday night in Toronto.
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