DiJonai Carrington broke her silence Monday on the Flagrant 2 foul that ended her night against the Indiana Fever.

Two days after being ejected for a hard hit on Sophie Cunningham, the Chicago Sky guard said she was trying to stop an easy basket. She said she never meant to hurt Cunningham.

Speaking to reporters before the Chicago Sky's road game against the Seattle Storm, Carrington said the hard foul on Sophie Cunningham was simply the kind of play she's made throughout her career.

"I'm never gonna let an open layup just be had," Carrington said, according to Chicago State of Mind Sports on X.

"You can pull clips from however many seasons of me making that same exact play. It was unfortunate that I made contact with her in the way that I did, but it was never intentional."

Carrington fouled Cunningham from behind early in the first quarter as the Fever guard pushed a fast break at the United Center on Saturday.

Cunningham was in the air attempting a layup when Carrington's arm caught her across the head and neck. It sent her to the floor hard as the shot still dropped.

Officials stopped play to review the contact and upgraded the call to a Flagrant 2, a foul the WNBA rulebook reserves for unnecessary and excessive contact. Under league rules, a Flagrant 2 carries an automatic ejection.

Carrington has made similar defensive plays before. In the 2024 playoffs, Carrington's hand caught Clark in the eye while defending a pass for the Connecticut Sun against the Fever. It left Clark with a black eye.

In June 2025, while with the Dallas Wings, Carrington chased down Diggins-Smith on a fast break and made contact with her head while contesting the shot. It drew a flagrant foul and sent Diggins-Smith to the floor. At the time, Carrington was leading the league in flagrant fouls.

Carrington also suggested that her comeback from a long injury layoff may have played a role in how the event happened in Saturday's game.

"Obviously I’m just coming back from injury, so maybe my timing or my lift wasn’t where it needs to get," she added, per USA Today.

She made her 2026 debut for the Sky on July 30 against the Connecticut Sun after missing the team's first 27 games while recovering from a serious left foot sprain.

DiJonai Carrington gets support from the coaches

Carrington's foul explanation was understandable. Even Cunningham's own coach, Stephanie White, didn't accuse her of trying to injure anyone.

Fever coach Stephanie White, who previously coached Carrington in Connecticut, said it was a hard foul and agreed with the ejection. Still, White did not believe Carrington intentionally targeted Cunningham's neck.

"Yeah, I mean, look, it was a hard foul. I don't think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did. But it did happen, and I thought it was the right call," White said during her post-match interview, per Fox Sports News.

Sky coach Tyler Marsh went even further. Marsh said that in the moment, he thought Carrington was making a play on the ball and did not believe the foul looked like a Flagrant 2 live. He also said he had not yet watched the replay closely enough to make a final judgment.

Both coaches believed the contact was serious enough for the ejection, but neither said Carrington deliberately tried to hurt her.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi