Caitlin Clark deemed herself fully healthy to play on Tuesday in Game 2 of WNBA playoffs after getting hit in the eye by Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington.
Caitlin Clark had a tough welcome to the WNBA playoffs.
The Indiana Fever guard was hit in the eye by the Connecticut Sun’s DiJonai Carrington in the first quarter of Game 1 between the Eastern Conference teams. Clark
fell to the floor and was helped off the court after the injury. However, she deemed herself fully healthy to play on Wednesday for Game 2.
The second-seeded Sun ran away with a 93–69 victory over sixth-seeded Indiana on Sunday.
Clark’s main focus is tying the series at one game apiece.
“We know we’re capable of beating this team,”
Clark said at the team’s media briefing on Tuesday. “We have done it. Obviously, they’re really, really good, and we know it'll be a challenge, but I don’t think it’s anything we’re shying away from. I think you just embrace the challenge. We know we didn’t give our best.”
There was some talk on social media that Carrington intentionally hit Clark in the eye. However, both players dismissed the notion the contact was on purpose. In addition, a foul was not called on the play.
“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye,” Carrington
told the media on Tuesday. “That doesn’t even make sense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t know I hit her, actually. I was trying to make a play on the ball. I guess I followed through and I hit her. Obviously, it’s never intentional. That’s not even like the type of player that I am.”
Clark also defended Carrington,
saying, “It wasn’t intentional by any means.”
Clark already had a historic season in the WNBA. In the process, she has also elevated the Fever and the league to new heights in popularity.
She broke the league’s scoring record with
769 points in 40 games, surpassing the previous mark set by Seimone Augustus, who scored 744 points in 34 games in 2006. Clark also set the WNBA single-season assist record at 337.
Clark entered the WNBA to much fanfare after a record-breaking college career at the University of Iowa. She finished as the top scorer in the history of men’s and women’s college basketball with 3,951 points. Clark was also a two-time NCAA women’s basketball Player of the Year.
Over her career at Iowa, Clark finished with the
highest career scoring average (28.4) in Division I history, surpassing Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State. The Hawkeyes retired her No. 22 jersey number, making her the third player in program history to receive that honor.
Clark was the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and she has been a boon to the league in terms of attendance and TV ratings. The Fever set the WNBA attendance record with more than 300,000 fans, with Clark as the starting guard.
Now, Clark needs to get the Fever back on track in the playoffs against Connecticut. One of the keys is finding a way to contain Sun’s forward Alyssa Thomas, who had a triple-double—12 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds—in Game 1.
Clark is fully aware of the challenge awaiting her team.
“It’s going to be really hard to win,” Clark said at her media briefing. “It comes down to execution and being detail-oriented.”
