UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will try and stave off elimination when they play the Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of their best-of-three series Wednesday night.
Clark struggled in her playoff debut, scoring just 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting. She did have eight assists. She got accidently poked in the eye in the first few minutes of the game by DiJonai Carrington.
“It wasn’t intentional by any means,” said Clark. “You just watch the play, it wasn’t intentional.”
The Associated Press unanimous Rookie of the Year said that despite her poor shooting, the poke didn't affect her at all, except giving her a little bit of a black eye.
“It didn’t bother me,” Clark said. “Obviously, it didn’t feel so good when it happened.”
Clark knows she'll need to step up her play to avoid seeing her first WNBA season end. She is “embracing the challenge” of trying to force a Game 3 that would be in Indianapolis on Friday night.
“We know we’re capable of beating this team,” Clark said.
Clark and her fellow rookies have been a ratings and attendance boon for the WNBA. Despite the blowout loss, fans tuned in as the game averaged 1.8 million viewers according to ESPN, making it the WNBA's most watched playoff game since the 2000 Finals. It was the most watched playoff game on ESPN ever despite going up against the NFL.
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Six different league television partners set viewership records this year for its highest viewed WNBA game. All of those games included the Fever.
Thanks to Clark, Indiana led the league in attendance at both home and on the road. The Fever averaged 17,036 at home and over 15,000 on the road. Four teams moved home games to bigger arenas when Indiana came to town to accommodate more fans.