2024 WNBA Playoffs: Connecticut Sun Marina Mabrey is not here to compete in the popularity contest

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier fell to the ground chasing a loose ball, but Marina Mabrey of the Connecticut Sun reached in and tried to recover it.

Collier, the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, let Mabrey know she didn't appreciate her actions. Mabrey responded, as she is known to do, with a series of profanities.

Minutes earlier, Mabrey was thrown onto the court by Lynx forward Bridget Carleton and appeared to try to trip her opponent after the foul. She was steamrolled by Minnesota's Kayla McBride, who received a technical foul during the exchange. Mabrey also pointed two fingers at the Lynx as her shot hit the net after another foul.

And that was just in the first half of the Sun's Game 2 loss to the Lynx in the WNBA semifinals on Tuesday.

“I mean, I’m from Jersey,” Mabrey told ESPN. “Some people have never been to Jersey, but when you get there everything happens outside (on the pitch) first. So this is just another level. Just playing outside, people were always talking s—. So being able to still play and talk – and as we would always say, 'Don't be fooled.'”

Since arriving in July following a trade request from the Chicago Sky, Mabrey's brashness has matched the toughness that has made the Sun the best defensive team in the league.

At the Sun, Mabrey's persistence is not resented, it is respected – as is her game. She averaged 19.7 PPG and connected on 39% of her 3-point attempts in the playoffs for a team tied 1-1 with the Lynx during the series on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2 ) goes to Connecticut for the third game. .

Her deep three-pointer near the Lynx logo in Game 1 on Sunday highlighted the Sun's 73-70 win. On Tuesday, she became the first player to reach double figures for a team that missed its first seven shots.

“She’s a dog,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “She wants to win. She has a certain toughness about her and fits the mentality of the Connecticut Sun. There is no doubt about that. She is also fearless and we need that. You like this from a competitive perspective. And from a shooting technique perspective.” And from a shooting perspective, we needed more offense. She is a player who is not afraid to take the big shots, the hard shots.

Mabrey's assertiveness has shaped the narrative around her, but her adaptability has defined her career. When starting player Ty Harris injured his ankle just before the playoffs, White asked Mabrey to fill the void.

It wasn't an unfamiliar moment for Mabrey, who played with future WNBA stars Arike Ogunbowale and Jackie Young on the 2017-18 Notre Dame squad that won the women's NCAA title.

“She is relentless. She is competitive. She’s the kid you need to have on your team,” said Muffet McGraw, the former Notre Dame head coach and current ESPN analyst. “She’s not after someone who likes her. Actually, she's fine with it if you don't do that. I thought she was the reason we won the championship because she would hold her teammates accountable if she thought for one minute they were slacking off.”

On that team, Mabrey sometimes deferred to other players because that was exactly what the team wanted her to do. Her selflessness taught her the importance of making a contribution, no matter the role.

“Of course I had the ability to take over games, and sometimes I did, but sometimes I had to settle for fewer points and fewer attempts,” Mabrey said. “Sometimes it was hard to know that I could do more. Now we’ve come full circle.”

After Notre Dame won the national title over Mississippi State, McGraw celebrated with a team dinner. At the table, she asked each player's favorite championship game memory, including Mabrey, who had nine turnovers that night but also recorded 10 points and hit a game-winning 3-pointer before Ogunbowale scored the game-winner at the buzzer.

“She said, 'I loved looking at the bench,'” McGraw said, “and knowing you couldn't take me out.”

That's the confidence that seems to be a prerequisite for playing for the Sun, a gritty team known for its physical style on both ends of the floor. And that's why the club believed Mabrey could be the final piece on the road to a WNBA title.

“I've been trying to get (Mabrey) here for a while now,” said Alyssa Thomas, who averaged 17.5 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 8.0 APG and 2.5 SPG in the WNBA semifinals. “She’s a competitor and that’s who we are here. She wants to win and will do whatever it takes for the team.”

Mabrey said she was happy to play with the Sun, not only because of its success, but because it allowed her to be herself. Over the course of her career she has had to make sacrifices, sometimes her athletic ability, sometimes her strength. But the Sun welcomed both.

“I've always been very competitive and I just understand that women aren't always accepted when they show emotions like that,” Mabrey said. “So I'm just going against the norm and saying you can still be a woman and show emotion and competitiveness. That kind of gets me going. I like taking part in competitions. Sometimes I like to talk.”