Stephanie White heard a very different sound from Indiana Fever fans Friday night. Just three days earlier, some fans inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse booed the Fever head coach during pregame introductions.

By Friday, those boos had turned into cheers. After a difficult week that started with criticism over her comments about DiJonai Carrington's foul on Sophie Cunningham, White said her locker room stayed together.

"It means a lot," White said after Friday's 98-87 win over the Dallas Wings, per WISH News' Angela Moryan on X. "You know, we love each other in that locker room, and, you know, we know that there are a lot of people out there that are trying to tear it apart."

White added that the players did not let the noise outside break what they had built inside.

"And when we say we're a family, we mean that. It doesn't mean we always get along. It doesn't mean we always agree. But at the end of the day, it means we circle our wagons, and we have each other's backs," White added, per WISH News' Angela Moryan on X.

That support mattered even more after everything White had faced earlier in the week. The entire situation started during Indiana's Aug. 8 win over the Chicago Sky.

During the game, Chicago guard DiJonai Carrington hit Fever guard Sophie Cunningham across the head and neck during a fast-break shot attempt.

The referees reviewed the contact and upgraded it to a Flagrant 2, which led to Carrington's ejection.

At the time, White said she did not believe Carrington meant to hurt Cunningham. She also praised her former player for being competitive.

That answer upset many fans. People felt White was defending an opposing player instead of backing her own player.

White later explained that she had not seen the replay and had gone directly to the postgame press conference. After watching the replay, she changed her tone and called the foul 'egregious.'

Still, the criticism did not disappear. In fact, it followed White right into the arena in the very next game during her introduction.

But Indiana players refused to let Stephanie White stand alone

Caitlin Clark didn't hide her frustration after Indiana's 106-92 win over New York.

"That made me a little sick, to be honest," she told reporters, describing how it felt to hear her own team's fans turn on her coach.

Cunningham, the player at the center of the original incident, was just as direct.

"Coach loves us. She didn't see the clip," she said.

Two days later, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston added their voices. Mitchell said watching White absorb the backlash affected her personally. Boston called the boos annoying and disrespectful.

By Friday night against the Dallas Wings, the fans changed their minds. White shared her gratitude towards the fans after the game.

"I think our fans, you know, the true Indiana Fever fans are amazing. They've been incredible to me for a long time. You know, I've been around a long time," White said after the game, per Angela Moryan on X.

White took over the coaching duty in November 2024.  In her first season back in 2025, she guided the Fever to a 24-20 record, won the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup title, and led them to the playoff semifinals.

Now, in 2026, she has the team sitting at 22-12 at the top of the East.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Rudra Dubey