After the Fever's tough loss to the Sun in the WNBA Playoffs, Caitlin Clark expressed her major frustrations—what did she say that left fans eager for more insight? (PO)

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Little to nothing went the Indiana Fever’s way on Sunday afternoon at Mohegan Sun Arena, getting routed 93-69 by the Connecticut Sun in Game 1. Seven minutes into the contest, Fever head coach Christie Sides received only her second technical foul of the season. And only three minutes into the second half, Caitlin Clark’s visible frustration surfaced.

Clark missed her eighth consecutive 3-pointer of the afternoon, which led to transition points for the Sun. Sides called timeout, and when Clark got to the bench, she wound-up her shooting arm to attack the seats. After Clark smacked the frustration out, she scored eight fast points. But the two triples Clark did get to sink during that outburst were her only of the day, shooting 2-for-13.

“My shot felt right there,” Clark later said. “That’s why it’s so frustrating… when it feels so good.”

Clark shot 4-for-17 overall, scoring 11 points with eight assists. It definitely wasn’t her best.

Only 84 seconds into the game, Connecticut guard DiJonai Carrington incidentally poked Caitlin Clark in her right eye, as the all-time single-season assist leader dished the ball. The refs didn’t call anything on Carrington (who later had her contacts knocked out to no whistle, either). Clark laid on the court, and though she stayed in, her eye blackened throughout the course of the game.

“Obviously got me pretty good in the eye,” Clark said. “I don’t think it affected me honestly. I felt like I got good shots. They just didn’t go down… I got some really good looks… took care of the ball better than I usually do… we were right there, I felt like we just played a crappy game. The flow of the game was really bad… the clock getting messed up. It was one thing after the next.”

Fever denied offensive rhythm, Marina Mabrey posts historic stat line

What Caitlin Clark is referring to is times in the first half when the Fever had possession of the ball and were interrupted by the clocks not operating correctly. In the grand scheme of things, this surely didn’t impact much. Indiana lost by 24 points. But it was the perfect sign to indicate that the Fever’s give-and-go offense was nullified all afternoon by going 6-for-28 beyond the arc.

Shots sometimes don’t go in. And it was the first playoff minutes for all of the Fever’s starters.

In hindsight, that’s not surprising, as aching as it could be for seven-year veteran Kelsey Mitchell.

“Turning the page man,” Mitchell said. “I like to think every time I step out on the floor I give my best. I think that our team tried to give our best… I think our 12 should be aggressive to start the game… that’s our big step, is to make them take tough shots all game. I think we could’ve done better in that area… I take it on the chin… I’m excited to hash out the details, look at the film.”

The other problem was, right as Clark began to finally get it going in the third quarter, the Sun’s Marina Mabrey sank back-to-back three-pointers and never turned back. Mabrey missing the bulk of Connecticut’s shots in the second quarter is what kept the Fever in it. The Sun’s July trade acquisition played 32 minutes in place of an injured Ty Harris. She led all scorers with 27 points.

That’s the most by any bench player in WNBA playoffs history. Tough luck for Indiana.