Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey (4) stares at Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) in the third quarter during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images Mark Smith-Imagn Images

Marina Mabrey Admits She 'Overreacted' Shoving Caitlin Clark

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 4:10 PM ET

Perhaps the most infamous moment of the 2025 WNBA season came on June 17, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun.

The moment came in the third quarter, after star Fever guard Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye by Sun guard Jacy Sheldon while Sheldon was playing defense. This led to a brief scuffle between Clark and Sheldon, which prompted Connecticut veteran Marina Mabrey to come up and shove Clark to the ground.

This not only incited several technical fouls (and weeks of heated discussion about how Clark is treated by peers afterward), but it prompted Fever enforcer Sophie Cunningham to essentially start a brawl by grabbing and throwing Sheldon down to the ground one quarter later.

Marina Mabrey Gets Honest About Caitlin Clark Shove

Two days after that shove heard about the women's basketball world, Mabrey was heard saying, "Damned if I do, damned if I don't," when addressing a commenter on an Instagram live stream who had called her out for shoving Clark.

Mabrey has since opened up about this shove and how it has impacted her relationship with Clark during an August 10 interview with Sportskeeda's Mark Medina.

"I thought it only got upgraded to a flagrant 2 because the way the fans reacted to it," Mabrey said of the shove on Clark. "They gave me a tech for it [initially]. I don't care, honestly. I really don't. Obviously, I'm not trying to hurt anybody. I'm not trying to go after certain players for certain s***.

Marina mabrey clearly shoving caitlin clark to the ground after a DEAD BALL and not getting ejected from the game is absolutely unbelievable. That was so clearly not a basketball play at all. Seriously do better refs… pic.twitter.com/vClvZK361C
— #22caitlinthegoat (@ccthegoat22) June 18, 2025

"Me and Caitlin were cool," she added. "Me and Caitlin have competed against each other in the playoffs. She threw me into the benches in the quarterfinals. We didn't go after her for it. She's competitive, and I was about to get the ball. I get it. Throw me out of bounds. We got back up and kept competing."

Mabrey concluded with, "So at the end of the day, it was a play on the ball when she did it. And I probably overreacted a little bit. But my teammate is getting hit, and I'm not okay with that. It wasn't like, 'I hate her! Here I do!' I don't do stuff like that. Everybody knows that I've never done that before."

It's fascinating to hear Mabrey reflecting on a moment that vilified her to a huge portion of the WNBA fan base in such a candid way. Regardless, one has to respect Mabrey for wanting to stick up for her teammate, despite her means of doing so being an overreaction.

This article first appeared on Women's Fastbreak on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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