The Indiana Fever must recover from the "gut punch" of losing Caitlin Clark and suffering a defeat to the Washington Mystics, so says Sophie Cunningham.

Indiana lost 83-77 to the Mystics on Wednesday, falling to 2-3 for the season.

They were without star player Clark, who missed a regular-season game for the first time in her career.

Clark is set to be out for two weeks with a quad issue, and guard Cunningham knows the onus is now on others to step up.

"I think this was a kind of gut punch for us," Cunningham said.

"We're going to come back tomorrow at practice with more focus, more energy. We know where we want to be at the end the season, but we're not just going to get there."

Cunningham does feel, though, that being without Clark could turn into a positive down the line.

"I do think short-term and long-term it's going to make us better," she added.

Cunningham's teammate Kelsey Mitchell said: "We weren't sharp enough to be a contender for anything.

"I think getting punched in the mouth early is humbling, because it shows where we need to be."

back home on Friday. pic.twitter.com/kGuIwI9cHU

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) May 29, 2025

Fever coach Stephanie White felt her team failed to trust the process they have worked on, as they got roped into a physical tussle.

She said: "Feeling comfortable getting to our off-ball actions, that's still a growth process for us.

"You can see when physicality happens or defensive pressure picks up, we revert to some old habits, settling for one-on-one, settling for jump shots, settling for dribble handoffs, instead of trusting the process of moving the ball and of playing in some off-ball actions."

The Fever take on the Connecticut Sun on Friday, before going up against the Mystics again next week.