Caitlin Clark had a rough playoff debut, sporting a black eye after accidently getting poked in it early on.
The Indiana Fever's star rookie missed 10 of her first 11 shots before finishing with 11 points and eight assists in the team's 93-69 loss to the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
The AP's Rookie of the Year refused to use the early first quarter eye-poke as an excuse for her off-night.
"Got me pretty good in the eye; I don't think it affected me," she said. "I felt like I got good shots, they just didn't go down. Tough time for that to happen. I thought I got some really good looks. Three pretty wide open 3s in the first half, you usually make."
Clark's shooting struggles continued early into the third quarter before the Fever called a timeout. The young star smacked a chair on the bench in frustration. That seemed to get her going a little bit as she came out and hit her next three shots, Unfortunately for Indiana, Connecticut guard Marina Mabrey got hot, scoring 11 of her 27 points in the third quarter and the Fever could never recover.
Clark will get another chance Wednesday in Game 2, hoping to send the series back to Indiana for a decisive third game Friday.
The WNBA's single-season assist leader made her regular season debut in Connecticut also back in May. She struggled in that game as well, missing 10 of her 15 shots.