Caitlin Clark downplayed the fact that she was poked in the eye by Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington during Sunday’s first-round loss to the WNBA playoffs, saying her eye “feels fine.” The Fever will look to avoid elimination in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

“It was absolutely not intentional,” Clark said Tuesday. “You just watched the play, it was not intentional.”

The injury occurred in the first quarter when Clark was dribbling at the top of the perimeter and passed to teammate Aliyah Boston, who was in the paint. As Clark was making the pass, Carrington poked the Fever guard in the right eye while trying to get a hand on the ball. Clark immediately covered her face and fell to the court. She returned to the game after being briefly benched and played 36 minutes in her playoff debut.

After the first match, Clark said that being poked in the eye had no effect on her performance.

“It didn’t bother me,” Clark said. “It didn’t feel good when it happened, obviously.”

Carrington’s foul on Clark sparked a heated reaction on social media after Game 1, with some fans alleging the Sun guard intentionally hit the Fever rookie. Carrington said Tuesday that she did not mean to poke Clark in the eye, noting that she was “trying to make a play on the ball.”

“I don’t even know why I would want to punch someone in the eye,” Carrington said. “That to me is nonsense.”

The Sun led the best-of-three series 1-0 after beating the Fever 93-69. Clark had 11 points and eight assists on 4 of 17 shooting. Carrington had 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor.

Clark “embraces the challenge” of forcing a make-or-break Game 3 on Friday in Indianapolis. The Fever defeated the Sun 84-80 on Aug. 28 during the regular season.

“We know we can beat this team,” Clark said.

The second game between Fever and Sun is Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)