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WNBA Makes Suspension Decision on Marina Mabrey After Caitlin Clark Incident

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated Jun 18, 2025 4:10 PM ET

Things got extremely chippy during Tuesday's WNBA Commissioner's Cup game between the Connecticut Sun and Indiana Fever.

In a game that saw the Fever cruise to an 88-71 victory, the biggest storyline was Indiana's Caitlin Clark.

While she impressed with a 20-point outing, the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year was involved in multiple altercations with Connecticut's Marina Mabrey and Jacy Sheldon.

Clark and Sheldon, who played at rival Big Ten schools, got into a bit of a shouting and shoving match in the second quarter, which resulted in Mabrey shoving Clark before the fight was broken up. However, the incident that took social media by storm occurred with 4:48 remaining in the third quarter.

As Clark had the ball and was attempting to make a move on Sheldon, the Sun guard appeared to poke Clark in the eye. Understandably frustrated, Clark shoved Sheldon, but ended up getting trucked to the ground by Mabrey.

Although the announcers felt it was worthy of an ejection, Mabrey was penalized with a technical.

On Wednesday, the WNBA decided to upgrade the ruling on Mabrey to a flagrant-2 foul, according to ESPN's Alex Philippou

"Marina Mabrey's technical from last night's Fever-Sun game has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, the league told ESPN," wrote Philippou. "A flagrant 2 comes from a standard fine."

After the game, Fever coach Stephanie White ripped the officials for their poor calls, expressing that it has been an issue across the league and not just involving Clark and Indiana.

"I think it's a league-wide issue," White said. "Bad officiating is bad officiating."

The Fever, who advanced to 6-5 on the year, will return to action on Thursday against the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco. As for Mabrey and the Sun, they will host the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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