Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White has pushed back on those who have criticized how she has handled the controversy that erupted after Saturday’s game between her team and the Chicago Sky.

Sky’s DiJonai Carrington was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul after she struck Fever’s Sophie Cunningham in the head and neck during Saturday’s game. Afterwards, White, – who previously coached Carrington at the Connecticut Sun – said she did not believe Carrington intentionally aimed for Cunningham’s neck. White was booed by some Fever fans before Tuesday’s win over the New York Liberty, while Indiana’s lieutenant governor has called for her to be fired.

After Tuesday’s game, White briefly addressed the media as she pounded her fist on the table multiple times, and declined to take questions from journalists.

“The hate, the fear-mongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win. It won’t win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided,” White said. “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 said she had not seen Carrington’s foul in real time before her comments on Saturday, and rebutted suggestions that she did not “100% always have my players’ back.”

“Our players’ success, our players’ health and wellness, our players’ safety is always a top priority for me,” she said after Tuesday’s game. “One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with players. I didn’t see the play in real time. I went straight to a press conference. I thought the play got called right. Thankfully, Sophie’s OK. Was it egregious? Absolutely. When you have a chance to watch that over and over and over on replay, you can see that. I didn’t have that in real time.”

Cunningham expressed her support for White, who is in her second year in charge of Indiana.

“Our locker room in there, it’s tight, and we have each other’s backs,” Cunningham said on Tuesday. “Coach loves us. She didn’t see the clip ... and that’s OK. Me and Steph are great. Steph is great with all of us, and so it’s really the outside noise that’s trying to distract us, but we’re good.”

The Fever have been under scrutiny this season. They have the WNBA’s most prominent player, Caitlin Clark. Cunningham has frequently come to Clark’s defense after physical play by opponents and has become one of the higher-profile players in the league. In an ESPN article published last month, she voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports, which led to small protests and rallies outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland. After Saturday’s game, Carrington posted the words “white privilege” on social media, although she denied it was a comment on her ejection from the game.

The off-court storylines do not appear to be affecting the Fever’s play. They have the best record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-best in the league. Tuesday’s win was Indiana’s ninth win in their last 12 games.

“We really did play with joy, and with everything going on, that’s kind of been hard to do,” Cunningham said. “Tonight was the night that we all just clicked and we had fun. We did it for Steph and we did it for everyone in the locker room.”