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WNBA Player Facing Backlash Over Rickea Jackson Incident

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Shubham Singh | Last updated Jan 25, 2026 11:46 AM ET

Lunar Owls guard Marina Mabrey plays a physical brand of basketball and is not afraid to initiate contact. Mabrey often faces criticism for her style of play and has been a part of multiple scuffles.

In another such instance, Mabrey was called out by some hoops fans for ramming Breeze BC's Rickea Jackson during a play. On the other hand, some fans felt that it was just a common foul.

Examining Marina Mabrey’s foul against Rickea Jackson

Mabrey and her Lunar Owls are having a rough season. They were 1-4 entering the game against the Breeze. The Breeze led 36-30 when Jackson had the ball in her hand and was trying to get a fast-break score from the left wing.

Mabrey committed an obvious foul on Jackson while trying to close the open lane. Jackson fell after the impact, and the extended motion from her hands made the contact look even worse.

It was deemed a common foul, but some fans were not pleased with the physicality during the play. The Breeze ended up collecting a 75-68 victory to improve to 4-2.

Dirty play or a regular foul?

An Indiana Fever fan who shared the clip of the foul felt that Mabrey has a long list of dirty plays during her career, writing, “Wtf is wrong with Marina Maybrey man. How many dirty plays she gonna have in her career ??” *police car light emoji*

Wtf is wrong with Marina Maybrey man. How many dirty plays she’s gonna have in her career ??

pic.twitter.com/9tnaN7FMMa
— Michael (@mikeaalen112735) January 25, 2026

A commenter felt that the Lunar Owls guard gets away with excessive contact repeatedly, saying, “The leagues won't do anything until she ends someone's career”

However, some of the commenters felt that Mabrey’s play was not dirty but a regular basketball play, as one of them wrote, “That’s not even dirty chill”.

Meanwhile, a fan thought that it wasn’t even a common foul, chiming in with, “That’s not even a foul wym?”

Anyway, this was another example of Mabrey’s aggressive nature. She was involved in a brawl against Vinyl guard Courtney Williams on Monday, too.

Mabrey has built a reputation as a dirty player because she has been in multiple brawls in the WNBA.

On June 17, Mabrey, a guard for the Connecticut Sun, most famously shoved Caitlin Clark to the floor, which resulted in a brawl. This incident against Jackson wasn't a blatant push to the ground but especially drew harsh reactions from some Fever fans.

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

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