Caitlin Clark Gets Poked In Eye By DiJonai Carrington, Struggles To Shoot In Fever Loss

UNCASVILLE, CT – Caitlin Clark's WNBA playoff debut went about the same as her WNBA debut – not great. Clark opened her career against the Connectcut Sun in a Fever loss at Mohegan Sun Arena. 

History repeated itself, as Clark and the Fever just can't seem to win in Southeastern Connecticut. 

Indiana fell to 0-3 against the Sun on the road, 93-69. Caitlin Clark really struggled shooting the basketball, going just 4-of-17 from the field and 2-of-12 from three for 11 points. 

Some of that might have resulted from taking a shot to the face in the first quarter from Sun guard DiJonai Carrington. 

Carrington, it should be noted, has been an outspoken critic of Clark, the Indiana Fever and the team's fanbase. 

Whether she purposefully hit Clark in the face is open for debate. However, given her history with Clark and the Fever, it certainly doesn't support the idea that the contact was incidental – even though it could have been. 

For her part, Clark said after the game that the injury, which had already caused a black eye, didn't cause her to shoot poorly. 

"[She] obviously got me pretty good in the eye [but] I don't think it affected me," Clark said. "I felt like I got good shots, they just didn't go down." 

Surely, the eye poke wasn't the only factor that affected Clark's performance. The Sun are the No. 3 seed in the WNBA playoffs for a reason – they won 28 games in the regular season, eight more than Indiana. 

Three of those wins came against the Fever, including both home games during the regular season. 

Clark scored 20 points in her WNBA debut against the Sun, a 92-71 loss, but committed 10 turnovers and had just three assists. She also shot just 33 percent (5-15) from the field. 

The teams met again at Mohegan Sun Arena in June and Clark had just 10 points, one of her lowest scoring outputs of the season, in a 17-point Fever loss. 

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark lays on the floor in pain after being poked in the eye by Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington. 

(Mark Smith/Imagn Images)

Through three games now at the Sun's home arena, Clark has 41 total points on 12-40 (30 percent) shooting. 

It's safe to say that Mohegan Sun Arena is a "House of Horrors" for Clark and the Fever, who don't have a lot of time to get things figured out. 

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The two teams meet again on Wednesday for Game 2 of the three-game series, and the Sun will host that contest as well. 

If the Fever can't figure out a way to win in Connecticut, their magical season will come to an abrupt end. 

It's a tall task, but people should know by now not to underestimate the power of Caitlin Clark on a basketball court.