Just before the WNBA took a break for the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Chicago Sky traded Marina Mabrey to the Connecticut Sun in a rare mid-season blockbuster. The two teams met for the first time since that deal on Friday night, and Mabrey poured in 24 points to help the Sun secure a 82-80 win in a game that clearly meant a little more.
The drama started late in the first quarter, when Mabrey flashed into the paint and caught a pass from Brionna Jones. She had the smaller Chennedy Carter on her back, and was trying to use her size to get an easy bucket inside. Carter made sure that didn’t happen by delivering a hard foul as Mabrey spun to the basket.
Mabrey immediately collapsed to the ground holding her face, and was attended to by the Sun’s medical staff. The referrees, meanwhile, went to the monitor to review the play and upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 1 on Carter for unnecessary contact to Mabrey’s head.
Carter, who would later foul out of the game, now leads the league in flagrant fouls with four, and is on the verge of a suspension. Any player who has four or five flagrant foul points and commits a Flagrant 1 foul will be suspended for one game; if they commit a Flagrant 2 foul, they will be…
