UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark said Tuesday that her right eye feels fine and dismissed any suggestion that she was intentionally hit by DiJonai Carrington in her first-game loss to the Connecticut Sun.

Clark was poked in the eye by Carrington in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss, leaving a bruise that had almost disappeared during Tuesday’s media presence.

“(It) feels good. It looks good too, so I’m happy,” Clark said.

But the subject of the poke has become a topic of conversation on social media, so much so that Carrington was asked if she intentionally hit Clark when the Sun could not be reached.

“I don’t even know why I would want to hit someone in the eye,” Carrington said. “That’s nonsense to me. But no, I didn’t. I didn’t actually know I hit her. I was trying to make a play on the ball, and I think I followed through and hit her. It’s obviously never intentional. That’s not even the type of player I am.”

When asked about it, Clark dismissed all speculation about the play.

“It was absolutely not intentional,” Clark said. “Just watch the play.”

Clark and the Fever face a crucial Game 2 on Wednesday night, with their season on the line. The Rookie of the Year was limited to 11 points on 4 of 17 shooting in the 93-69 loss in Game 1, but said she believes they’ll make enough adjustments to give themselves a much better chance.

“We know we can beat this team. We’ve done it,” Clark said, noting an 84-80 win over the Sun on Aug. 28. “Obviously they’re really, really good and we know it’s going to be a challenge, but I don’t think we shy away from it. I think you just embrace the challenge.

“We know we didn’t have our best (Sunday) and maybe the final score really looks like we got blown out, but we had it up to six points. We had it up to eight points. It was just that we never really got over the hump.”

Fever coach Christie Sides said she was most disappointed with the defensive performance.

“We’ve done a really good job defensively in our schemes, and I don’t think we’ve made it really hard for them, especially with some of the shots they’ve taken,” Sides said. “They’ve shot the ball extremely well. There’s a lot of things we can do differently to make it harder for them to get some of those shots.”

As for being one game away from elimination, Clark said, “I don’t want this to end. … I feel like it’s been a very special year for our organization and our goal is to make the playoffs, but everyone in our locker room believes we can win this series. This is obviously a must-win for us and we believe we can come here and win that.”