Marina Mabrey couldn’t cease smiling.
She smiled as she sunk three three-pointers, she smiled throughout her halftime interview, and she or he smiled postgame, as she took questions on what it felt wish to put on a Connecticut Solar uniform.
In her first recreation as a member of the Solar, Mabrey appeared like she might be the lacking piece within the staff’s pursuit of a WNBA championship. The veteran sharpshooter who the Solar acquired from Chicago final month completed with 17 factors (7-13 FG), 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of steals, because the Solar dominated the Wings from begin to end.
Postgame, Mabrey sat alongside DeWanna Bonner and mirrored on what it was wish to play with such skilled gamers. It’s a pointy distinction from the youthful, rebuilding staff she performed alongside in Chicago just some weeks in the past, the place rookies led the best way and everybody labored to determine their function.
“Simply taking part in with vets like this who make issues a lot simpler for everyone, it’s sort of straightforward to simply read-and-react off them,” Mabrey mentioned. “They only make all people look so a lot better, so I’m appreciative of that.”
Bonner, the Solar’s main scorer this season, exploded for 29 factors on 8-14 taking pictures, whereas Alyssa Thomas posted a quintessential close to triple-double — 12 factors, 14 assists, and eight rebounds.
“Marina simply provides one other dynamic to our staff,” Alyssa Thomas mentioned after the sport on the ION broadcast. “We want three-point taking pictures, and that’s her specialty.”
The Solar completed the sport with 11 three-pointers — 4 from Bonner, 3 from Mabrey and three from Ty Harris, who scored 14 factors on 5-8 taking pictures. It’s an unusually excessive determine for a staff that ranks towards the underside of the league from past the arc, and it’s one thing they know they wanted to work on.
“Three-point taking pictures is what you must win a championship and even compete,” Thomas mentioned. They’re one step nearer now.
With the win, Connecticut improves to 19-6 on the 12 months, good for second general. The Wings fall to 6-20 and farther from the final spot within the playoffs. Dallas was led by Arike Ogunbowale (21 factors, 6-12 FG) and Satou Saballay (20 factors, 6-17 FG). Sabally performed her first recreation as a Wing after lacking the primary half of the season with a shoulder damage.
DeWanna Bonner finds a groove in win
For Bonner, the environment friendly taking pictures (4-7 from three) was a welcome signal. She spent her Olympic break in Paris, cheering on fiance Alyssa Thomas and hitting the health club each single day in Paris: “I’m a workaholic.”
“Two days after I landed, I discovered a health club and a coach and labored on my shot,” Bonner mentioned. “I really feel prefer it wasn’t one of the best within the first half [of the season]. However, I’m outdated. I must relaxation. In order that additionally occurs.”
The shot appeared clean within the win over the Dream. It additionally didn’t harm that there was one other sharpshooter trying to create her personal shot alongside
“If you add a chunk like Marina, who can simply soar in and slot in to what we’ve been doing, we don’t need to decelerate in any respect,” Bonner mentioned. “I believe that’s large that we are able to do this — you possibly can simply put her on the market.”
