May 14, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington (21) drives the ball against Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) in the second half at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has achieved a rare level of fame in basketball—the kind of fame where any hard foul immediately becomes a story.

So it went Sunday during the Connecticut Sun’s 93–69 win over the Fever in Game 1 of the WNBA playoffs’ first round. With about eight and a half minutes left in the first quarter and the Sun up 3–2, Clark dribbled inside Connecticut’s three-point line, passed the ball, and took a painful poke in the eye by Sun guard and forward DiJonai Carrington.

On Tuesday, Clark told reporters she did not believe the poke was intentional.

“It wasn’t intentional by any means,” Clark said via Matthew Byrne of ClutchPoints. “You just watched the play, it wasn’t intentional.”

Clark recovered from the poke to score 11 points, pull down four rebounds, and give out eight assists. Carrington tallied 14 points and five boards for her victorious Connecticut team.