Sun's Marina Mabrey has a pretty simple philosophy: 'Don't get punked'

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier tumbled to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball but the Connecticut Sun‘s Marina Mabrey reached in and tried to take it.

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

Minutes earlier, Mabrey got tossed to the court by Lynx forward Bridget Carleton and appeared to make an attempt to trip her opponent after that foul. She was bulldozed by Minnesota’s Kayla McBride, who drew a technical foul as they exchanged words. Mabrey also pointed toward the Lynx with two fingers when her shot found 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 Tuesday.

“I mean, I’m from Jersey,” Mabrey told ESPN. “Some people have never been to Jersey, but when you go, first of all, it all goes down outside [on the court]. So that’s just another level. Just playing outside, people were always talking s—. So being able to still play and talk — and like we’d always say, ‘Don’t get punked.'”

Since she arrived in July after requesting a trade from the Chicago Sky, Mabrey’s brashness has aligned with the toughness that has made the Sun the league’s top defensive team.

With the Sun, Mabrey’s tenacity isn’t resented, it’s respected — along with her game. She has averaged 19.7 PPG and connected on 39% of her 3-point attempts in the playoffs for a team that’s tied 1-1 with the Lynx as the series goes to Connecticut for Game 3 on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

Her deep 3-pointer near the Lynx’s half-court logo in Game 1 on Sunday punctuated the 73-70 victory for the Sun. On Tuesday, she was 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’s got a toughness about her, and she fits the mentality of the Connecticut Sun. There is no doubt about it. She’s also fearless and we need that. You love that from a competitive standpoint. And from a shotmaking and shot-taking standpoint, we have needed more offense. She’s a player who comes in who’s not afraid to take the big shots, the tough shots.”

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

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

“She’s relentless. She’s competitive. She’s the kid that you’ve got to have on your team,” said Muffet McGraw, the former Notre Dame head coach and current ESPN analyst. “She is not after anybody liking her. In fact, she’s fine if you don’t. I thought she was the reason that we won the championship because she would hold her teammates accountable if she thought for a minute they were slacking off.”

On that team, Mabrey sometimes deferred to other players because it was what that squad needed her to do. Her selflessness taught her the value of contributing, no matter the role.

“Obviously, I had the ability to take over games and sometimes I would do it but then other times, I had to settle for less points, less attempts,” Mabrey said. “Sometimes, it was hard knowing I could do more than this. Now, it has come full circle.”

After Notre Dame won the national title over Mississippi State, McGraw celebrated with a team dinner. At the table, she asked for the favorite championship game memory of each player, including Mabrey, who had 9 turnovers that night but also registered 10 points and hit a critical 3-pointer before Ogunbowale’s game winner at the buzzer.

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

That’s the confidence that seems to be a prerequisite to play for the Sun, a gritty team known for a physical style on both ends of the floor. And that’s also why the club believed Mabrey could be the final piece in a run to the WNBA title.

“I’ve been trying to get [Mabrey] to come here for a while,” said Alyssa Thomas, who is averaging 17.5 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 8.0 APG and 2.5 SPG in the WNBA semifinals. “She’s a competitor and that’s what we are here. She wants to win and she’s going to do whatever it takes for the team.”

Mabrey said she’s happy playing with the Sun, not only because of their success but because they have allowed her to be herself. Throughout her career, she has been asked to sacrifice, sometimes her athletic capabilities and other times her edge. But the Sun have welcomed both.

“I’ve always been really competitive and I just understand that women aren’t always accepted when they show emotion 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. It kind of gets me going. I like to compete. I like to talk sometimes.”