INDIANAPOLIS — When Fever rookie Caitlin Clark was laying on the ground in pain as play happened around her Monday night, Indiana coach Christie Sides was concerned.

More than concerned. She was worried sick her prized player — the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft — was going to have a significant injury.

Clark rolled her ankle at the five-minute mark of the second quarter, just before she ran into a screen from Connecticut Sun guard Brionna Jones. She fell to the ground, and the Sun finished the possession — a Jones layup — before Sides called a timeout to check on Clark.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts after being injured during the first half of an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Monday, May 20, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“Yeah, I was worried,” Sides said with a small laugh. “A lot worried. But she is tough. She takes hits … She didn’t want anybody to help her off the court, and I love that about her. I love that’s what she’s about. She walked it off herself, did what she needed to do to come back in the game.”

After laying on the ground for a while, Clark picked herself up off the ground and limped to the sideline. Smacking a chair on the bench as she passed, she went straight toward the locker room with athletic trainer Todd Champlin.

A couple minutes later, she reappeared on the bench, her ankle taped up more than ever.

“I turned it pretty good,” Clark said following the Fever’s competitive 88-84 home loss. “I think it just got caught. I don’t think I stepped on anybody…  I don’t have the best ankles in the world, it was a little tight this morning, but nothing really out of the ordinary. I felt good, I just wanted to get a lot more tape on it as fast as I could.”

Clark sat out the rest of the second quarter, watching as her teammates charged to a 3-point lead at halftime. She started the game out of halftime, and she didn’t look any different as she did before the injury. Clark finished the game with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting, five assists and three rebounds.

Slight ankle injuries are things Clark is used to — she never missed a game in her collegiate career because of injury, and she isn’t starting now.

“Every basketball player has an ankle injury,” Clark said. “If you don’t, you’re not a true baller. It’ll be stiff, but I’ll be good.”

Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Caitlin Clark bounces back from ankle injury, finishes with 17 points