Caitlin Clark is left with a BLACK EYE after brutal poke in face from WNBA rival

Caitlin Clark took a brutal poke to the face in her WNBA playoff debut on Sunday night - leaving the Indiana Fever rookie with a black eye.

Clark's first playoff appearance up in the big leagues did not go to plan as the Fever slumped to a 93-69 defeat against the Connecticut Sun.

And not only did she struggle in the game - with her return of 11 points a lot lower than she's become accustomed to this season - but the 22-year-old was also left rolling around on the floor in pain early on after being struck in the eye.

Just 90 seconds into the first-round playoff tie Clark was knocked to the ground by Connecticut guard DiJonai Carrington, who appeared to poke her while trying to block the ball.

No foul was called despite the contact leaving her in agony, before the Sun went on to claim victory in Game 1.

In her postgame press conference, Clark was sporting a clear shiner on her right eye after the finger to the face from Carrington, despite brushing off the incident.

'Obviously, she got me pretty good in the eye,' she told reporters about the eye poke.

'I don’t think it affected me. I got good shots, they didn’t go down. It’s a tough time for that to happen. Had three wide open in first half that I usually make. 

'It didn’t feel good when it happened but I don’t think it affected me.'

Clark, who was named WNBA Rookie of the Year earlier in the day, was restricted to just 11 points, eight assists and four rebounds in the game as she struggled to make her usual impact against an inspired Connecticut.

Marina Mabrey's incredible 27-point haul off the bench propelled the hosts to victory in Game 1 of this first round playoff series, with the second to come on Wednesday night.

The Sun's Alyssa Thomas also had the 15th triple-double of her career to spoil Clark's playoff debut, finishing with 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds - going down as her fourth postseason triple-double.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana.

The Sun came into the contest with 222 playoff games under their belt while the Fever had just 19, including none among the starters. This was Indiana's first appearance in the playoffs since 2016. Connecticut head coach Stephanie White was in charge of the Fever that year.