Sport: Basketball
Born: September 14, 1996
Town: Belmar, New Jersey
Marina Mabrey was born September 14, 1996 in Belmar to Patti and Roy Mabrey. Basketball was a family obsession. Marina, her older sister Michaela, and their younger sister, Dara, established a dynasty at Manasquan High School under coach Lisa Kukoda. Marina’s deft passing and long-distance shooting helped Manasquan win a pair of Tournament of Champions titles. She played her sophomore season for Point Pleasant Beach High because of Hurricane Sandy and led that team to a state championship.
In 2015, Marina grew to 5’11” and was basically unguardable. She regularly scored 25-plus points per game and led her team to a 31–2 record. She was honored as a McDonald’s All-American and was New Jersey’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
Marina followed her older sister to Notre Dame, where she became a four-year starter, playing beside Michaela as a freshman and with cat-quick guard Jackie Young for her final three years. In 2018, Marina was named first-team All-ACC and the Irish reached the NCAA title game against Mississippi State. They won 61–58 on a dramatic three-pointer by center Arike Ogunbowale—who also happened to be Marina’s housemate. They had first met during a 2015 high-school tournament in Brooklyn.
After the tournament, Marina took to Twitter to advocate for the quality of women’s hoops and began wearing a shirt with the words “This Is My Kitchen.” She developed it into a clothing line in 2019.
In 2018, Dara followed in Marina’s footsteps when she was named Shore Player of the Year by the Asbury Park Press. She accepted a scholarship from Virginia Tech.
In her senior season, Marina established a new career record for 3-pointers at Notre Dame with 274. The Irish made it back to the Final Four and Marina set a semifinal record with 12 assists in a win over UConn. Notre Dame was unable to defend its championship, however, falling to Baylor in the finals.
Marina was one of five Notre Dame players selected in the 2019 WNBA draft. She went to the LA Sparks in the second round. Her teammates who went pro were Young, who went #1 overall, Ogunbowale, Brianna Turner (all three first-rounders) and Jessica Shepard. The Sparks’ first pick was Baylor center Kalani Brown—daughter of former Net PJ Brown—whom Marina had faced in the finals three days earlier.
Marina spent her rookie season as a backup for a team predicted to challenge for the WNBA crown. She averaged a little over 10 minutes a game, but when she got more minutes, she showed she could handle WNBA-level basketball. In a June tilt with the Connecticut Sun, she hit on three of seven 3-pointers and finished with 14 points in 28 minutes. Marina reached double-figures again in wins over the Dallas Wings, Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm as the Sparks surged into first place. In the Seattle game she buried 10 points in the final quarter.
The Sparks began the season 14–0, so Marina got to see what a winning WNBA program looked like. The team sputtered in the playoffs, however, falling to the Sun in the semifinals. Itching for more court time, Marina signed with Latvian team TTT Riga that winter. In her first game, she torched a Russian team starring Griner and other WNBA stars for 24 points.
A trade to the Dallas Wings prior to the Covid-shortened 2020 WNBA season opened up playing time for Marina, and she responded by averaging 10.0 points and 1.3 steals per game. She played for a pro team in Israel in 2020–21 and then returned to Dallas for the 2021 season. Marina often functioned as a Sixth Man for the Wings, but saw her scoring increase to 13 points a game. Over the winter, Marina continued to play overseas—this time in Australia. Despite being hobbled by a foot injury, she helped the Perth Lynx reached the NBL Finals.
Marina’s third season in Dallas saw her nail down a starting role and set new personal bests in almost every offensive category. Marina and her old college roommate, Arike Ogunbowale, helped Dallas forge a .500 record for the first time since 2015, when the team was based in Tulsa. Following the 2022 season, Marina was part of a four-team made that landed her in Chicago as a member of the Sky. She averaged 15 points per game for a club that barely made the playoffs. They were blown out by the Las Vegas in the opening round.
The news wasn’t all bad in 2023. Earlier that year, playing in northern Italy for Famila Schio, Marina helped her club win the Coppa Italia. She netted 11 points in the final in a 73–62 win over Venice. In the EuroLeague tournament, Marina’s scoring led Schio to a bronze medal. It marked the first time in two decades an Italian club had medaled in EuroLeague competition. Marina capped off a fine season with a 37-point explosion against Bologna to capture the Italian League championship.
During the 2024 WNBA season, Marina continued her dependable scoring and solid defense for Chicago. A mid-summer trade brought her to Connecticut, where she became a key member of the Sun, who finished the year 28–12. Marina came off the bench at point guard much of the year but still averaged double-digits. During the Sun’s first-round meeting with the Indiana Fever, her job was to shadow Caitlin Clark on defense. Marina shut her down in a two-game sweep and was high scorer in Game 1 with 27 points.