Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark’s playoff debut in the WNBA didn’t go according to plan.

Clark struggled through a rough offensive outing which saw her finish with just 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting in her team’s 93–69 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. She also ended the game with a black eye after she was poked in the face by Sun guard DiJonai Carrington while trying to pass the ball in the first quarter.

No foul was called and the contact appeared to be accidental. Days later, however, slow-motion footage of the incident had some fans claiming Carrington’s poke was intentional.

Carrington defended herself, speaking about the play in a media availability session on Tuesday.

“I don’t even know why I would intend to hit anybody in the eye,” Carrington said when asked whether she intentionally tried to hurt Clark. “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, and I guess I followed through and I hit her, so obviously it’s never intentional, that’s not even like the type of player that I am.”

I asked DiJonai Carrington about that moment early in Sunday’s Indiana-Connecticut game when she caught Caitlin Clark in the eye. Here’s her answer: pic.twitter.com/DnQVYi0r6J

— Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) September 24, 2024

When the reporter asked whether Carrington laughed about the incident with Connecticut guard Marina Mabrey afterward, Carrington responded with a blunt “No.”

The reporter’s somewhat dubious line of questioning aside, Carrington made sure to clear the air on what was, by all accounts, an accidental poke.

Clark, for her part, didn’t blame her black eye on her awful shooting woes and reiterated that point Tuesday. Clark and the Fever will look to even the best-of-three playoff series against the Sun on Wednesday evening at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.