INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White has had enough of the conversations around the WNBA this season that aren't about basketball.
On Tuesday, she finally lashed out.
The 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year and one of the original Fever players angrily defended herself after she was criticized for her response to DiJonai Carrington's flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham, and pleaded with people to focus on the sport and not the continual sideshows.
“The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness that’s trying to hijack our league will not win. It won’t win,” White said, her voice rising as she pounded the table in front of her. “We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided. Every day these women put their ass on the line. Every day when they go low, we go high. Love will win. Grace will win. Humility will win and kindness will win. I stand by them, I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell.”
White left immediately after her 2 1/2-minute outburst ended without taking questions.
Indiana responded with one of its best halves of the season, shooting 59% from the field and 79% on 3-pointers on its way to a 106-92 victory over the New York Liberty. The Fever have won seven of their last nine despite being the focal point of so many controversies.
Fever All-Star Caitlin Clark wasn't surprised by how the Fever played or White's pregame reaction. She was more upset by the boos she heard during White's pregame introduction.
“I talked to Steph earlier in the day and you know I think we forget a lot of times, like, we're humans and she has feelings and there are moments that are really hard and sometimes that's the job we sign up for," Clark said. “At the same time, it's OK to feel those emotions and I told her I've been through the same thing.”
Clark added: "There was like no way we were losing this game. Like, that’s my head coach. Like, I hated that our fans booed her before the game. That made me a little sick to be honest.”
Carrington hit Cunningham in the head and neck area Saturday, knocking the Fever guard hard to the ground on a breakaway layup. Cunningham got up and charged toward Carrington but was restrained.
Carrington was assessed a Flagrant 2, an automatic ejection. The Chicago Sky player then wrote “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever on a social media account. On Monday, Carrington said she never claimed the foul call was “white privilege.”
Cunningham has been outspoken about her desire to keep transgender women out of women's sports, a position that has spurred rallies in support of and opposed to her stance.
White initially said she thought the refs got the call right but that she didn't think that action near the head and neck area was intentional. Critics claimed she was defending Carrington.
"OK... The Indiana Fever need to let Stephanie White go,” Indiana Lieutenant Gov. Micah Beckwith wrote Sunday on X. “No solid coach would ever take the side of the opposing team’s player who committed a flagrant foul on one of your own players. Terrible coaching! The Fever need to defend their players.”
White explained Tuesday that she had not seen the replay when she first spoke with reporters Saturday and that she changed her opinion after watching it again. She called the foul “egregious.”
“Our players' success, our players' health and wellness, our players' safety is always a top priority,” she began, her voice rising. “One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with my players. For those who have anything to say about the play in the last game, I didn’t see the replay. I went straight to a press conference, I thought the play got called right. Thankfully, Sophie is OK. Was it egregious? Absolutely.
"When you get a chance to see that on replay over and over, you see that. I didn’t see that in real time. I personally take any suggestions that I don’t 100% always have my players back. I ride with them 10 toes down all the time, all the time.”
Cunningham received a loud ovation when she entered Tuesday's game. She and White hugged after the game.
“I think there’s just been a lot of outside noise but our locker room is good,” Cunningham said. “We have each other’s backs. Coach loves us. So give her her flowers. She didn’t see the clip and that’s OK. Me and Steph are great, and Steph is great with all of us.”
White faced a similar controversy when Clark also was fouled hard earlier this season, prompting a letter from the U.S. House of Representatives to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
White and Clark also were involved in a sideline spat in late and there was speculation about White's job status following the incident.
Now White just wants everyone to get back to basketball.
“It's a shame we can't have an opportunity to talk about what great basketball they are playing,” White said with emphasis. “The reality is, with me, I will always lead with love. I will always lead with grace, I will always lead with humility. and I will always lead with integrity. It doesn't mean I'll always get it right. I'm human.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White talks with guard Sophie Cunningham (8) as the Fever played the New York Liberty in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White cheers as the Indiana Fever plays the New York Liberty in the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White yells at referees after Caitlin Clark was called for a foul during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Sen. Darline Graham and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman have advanced to a runoff in South Carolina’s special Republican primary to replace the late Lindsey Graham in the U.S. Senate, one month after his sudden death.
A first-time candidate who was always close to her brother’s political orbit, Darline Graham overcame skepticism about her lack of experience in her campaign to replace him, as she moved forward Tuesday as the top vote-getter to runner-up Norman from a 10-way field en route to an Aug. 25 runoff. Lindsey Graham died July 11, triggering a whirlwind special election season.
Gov. Henry McMaster had appointed Darline Graham to serve the waning months of her late brother’s term. She picked up President Donald Trump’s swift backing, but the rare open Senate seat attracted a broad field, including some of the state’s top Republicans, setting up the latest test of the president’s command over the GOP base.
Darline Graham addressed reporters Tuesday evening flanked by her family and introduced herself anew to the state's Republicans voters. She boasted of her work with Trump in her first three weeks in the Senate and took a veiled swipe at her opponent, saying she was “guilty as charged” of not being a politician.
“I will spend the next to weeks of this runoff meeting with voters and unlike some politicians listening to their concerns — yes, listening to their concerns," Graham said, not mentioning Norman by name. "This seat belongs to the people of South Carolina and I will work hard to earn, earn your vote.”
Trump told reporters Tuesday evening that Graham called him after making the runoff to thank him for his support. Trump responded “I think so” when asked if he would campaign for her, but noted he also liked Norman and other candidates in the race, saying, “I mean, they’re all Trumpers.”
Norman has long been a member of the House Freedom Caucus, comprised of the chamber’s most conservative members. He unsuccessfully ran for the GOP gubernatorial nomination earlier this year.
“Let’s win this thing in a big way," Norman told supporters Tuesday night, as he appealed for party unity heading into the runoff and noted surprising circumstances of the campaign after Graham's death. “He’s a fixture, we thought he would be here,” Norman said.
For decades, South Carolina voters reliably returned Lindsey Graham to Washington despite periodic primary challengers who accused the dealmaker and foreign policy hawk of being insufficiently conservative.
Tuesday's contest featured one of Lindsey Graham’s earlier foes, as well as two U.S. House members and Mark Sanford, the former governor and congressman eager for a political comeback in a field crowded with familiar faces. The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the general election.
The unexpected primary began even before funeral observances in Washington and South Carolina for Graham, who died at his Washington home after suffering a tear in his aorta, had concluded. State law proscribed a compressed timeline that forced candidates to navigate the decorum of mourning the senator's death while jockeying to replace him.
A day after Graham’s death was announced, his sister accepted Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s appointment to succeed her brother in an interim capacity and was sworn in with her family and the late senator’s staff standing behind her. A week later, Darline Graham launched into the campaign herself, encouraged to run and then endorsed by Trump.
Some voters said her brother's reputation helped tilt them to support Darline Graham.
“She’s not a politician, but she was kin to probably one of the greatest senators ever,” Frank Bohn of Horry County said.
While Darline Graham couldn't directly access the millions in Lindsey Graham's campaign account, there was no limit to how much could be transferred to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which funded advertising to support her.
A super PAC that once supported Lindsey Graham also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars backing Darline Graham. Mailers touted her as “President Trump's choice” and “Prepared to Carry on Lindsey's Legacy.”
Fresh off his unsuccessful primary run for governor, Norman entered the Senate contest as one several politicians more familiar to South Carolina voters in their own right, and snapped up endorsements from the likes of Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah.
One of the most conservative House members, Norman is well-known across South Carolina as a fiscal conservative. At times, however, he has been at odds with Trump, backing former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 presidential primary.
Another candidate, Rep. Russell Fry, had at one time appeared poised to gain Trump's backing after Lindsey Graham's death. Despite lacking the president's endorsement, he began running and sought to boost his name recognition beyond his pro-Trump, Myrtle Beach-area district.
Voter George Mitford said Fry's service stood out to him over Darline Graham, who hasn't been in elected office.
“I just thought he’d probably had more experience in this than she would have had,” Mitford said, adding that he had supported Lindsey Graham’s Senate tenure.
The former South Carolina congressman and governor whose political ascendency was stalled by a 2009 extramarital affair failed in yet another attempt to return to public office. Sanford’s Senate bid came just three months after he ended an effort to retake his former U.S. House seat, saying then he was quitting the race to establish a nonprofit to address the national debt.
Mark Lynch, a Greenville businessman who tried to oust Graham in last month's regular Republican primary, swiftly relaunched his campaign after Graham’s death. Lynch campaigned as a Trump supporter, but in June, Trump on social media called him a “lunatic” and a “disaster for the Republican Party.”
Andrews, a Charleston physician, won her party’s June primary outright. Having set up her campaign based around challenging Graham, Andrews had been forced to pivot to a broader critique of the Republican contenders.
No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat here in decades. And when Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin.
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
Collins reported from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. AP reporters Will Weissert in Washington and Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas contributed.
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford enjoys a beer and talks to his son during his election party on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Mount Pleasant, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Former Gov. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., watches as he waits to speak at a candidate event days before the special South Carolina Republican primary to replace Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., introduces Adm. Kevin Lunday, acting commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on the nomination Lunday for Commandant of the Coast Guard, Nov. 19, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., left, sits with his son James at a candidate event for hopefuls vying in a special Republican primary to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on November ballots, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Rep. Ralph Norman R-S.C., speaks at a candidate event for hopefuls vying in a special Republican primary to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on November ballots, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Larry Nordone looks on as his wife, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters after she voted in a special Republican primary to replace her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on November ballots on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, in Florence, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
