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Andrea Adelson, senior editor at ESPN
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Indiana Fever defenseman Caitlin Clark said Tuesday her right eye feels fine and dismissed suggestions that she was intentionally hit by DiJonai Carrington in Game 1 of their loss to the Connecticut Sun.
Clark was poked in the eye by Carrington in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss, causing bruising that had mostly disappeared by the time of Tuesday’s media exposure.
“It feels good. It looks good too, so I’m happy,” Clark said.
But the shoving became a topic of discussion on social media, so much so that Carrington was asked during the Sun’s appearance whether she had hit Clark on purpose.
“I don’t even know why I would hit someone in the eye,” Carrington said. “It doesn’t make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. Actually, I didn’t know I had hit them. I wanted to play the ball, and I guess I followed through and hit them. Of course, it’s never intentional. I’m not even that type of player.”
When asked about it, Clark put an end to any speculation about the piece.
“It was definitely not intentional,” Clark said. “Just watch the game.”
Clark and the Fever face a crucial second game on Wednesday night with their season on the line. The Rookie of the Year managed just 11 points on 4 of 17 shooting in the 93-69 Game 1 loss, but said she believes they will make enough adjustments to give themselves a much better chance.
“We know we’re capable of beating this team. We’ve done it,” Clark said, referring to an 84-80 win over the Sun on Aug. 28. “Obviously they’re really, really good and we know it’s going to be a challenge, but I don’t think we’re going to shy away from it. I think you just have to embrace the challenge.”
“We know we didn’t play our best (on Sunday) and maybe the final score really does look like we got smacked, but we had six points. We had eight points. We just never really got over the hump.”
Fever coach Christie Sides said she was very disappointed with the defense’s performance.
“We did a really good job of our defensive strategies and I don’t think we made it really difficult for them, especially on some of their shots,” Sides said. “They shot the ball extremely well. There are a lot of things we can do differently to make it harder for them to score some of those shots.”
As for being one game away from elimination, Clark said, “I don’t want this to end. … I think it’s been a really special year for our organization and our goal is to make the playoffs, but everyone in our locker room believes we can win this series. We absolutely have to win here and we believe we can come here and win.”
