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Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey admits she overreacted when she shoved the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark during an altercation between the two teams in June.
“It wasn't like ‘I hate her, here I go,'” she told Sportskeeda's Mark Medina.
The incident occurred after Jacy Sheldon, then playing for the Sun, inadvertently poked Clark in the eye, then bumped into her after the whistle. Clark bumped her back, causing Mabrey to come in and knock Clark to the ground.
Mabrey was initially given a technical foul for the play, but it was upgraded to a flagrant 2 after-the-fact. She said she believed that happened because of the outcry from Clark's fanbase.
“I thought it only got upgraded to a flagrant 2 because of the way the fans reacted to it,” Mabrey said. “They gave me a tech for it. 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–t.”
She also pointed to a play from last year when Clark shoved her to the ground in a scuffle for the ball.
“Me and Caitlin were cool,” Mabrey 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.”
“So at the end of the day, it was a play on the ball when she did it,” she continued. “And I probably overreacted a little bit. But my teammate is getting hit, and I'm not okay with that.”
Mabrey and the Sun are currently in the midst of a league-worst 5-26 season. The Fever, meanwhile, won the Commissioner's Cup, but have been playing without Clark, who is recovering from a groin injury. They come into Tuesday at 18-14, good for a tie for fifth in the WNBA.
