The Connecticut Sun’s acquisition of Marina Mabrey during the Olympic break already has paid dividends.
Mabrey, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Sky, debuted with 17 points in a 109-91 victory at Dallas on Friday.
Mabrey and the Sun will visit the Atlanta Dream on Sunday afternoon in College Park, Ga.
“She knows how to play,” Sun coach Stephanie White said of Mabrey. “She moves really well with and without the ball. She makes the right read and the right plays. She knocks down shots … and she’s versatile, so we can play her at multiple positions.
“I think she fits really well with our core group just in terms of understanding our actions, being effective in our actions and making the right plays.”
Mabrey’s presence was especially important Friday because Connecticut (19-6) played without starting guard DiJonai Carrington (personal reasons) and top reserve Tiffany Mitchell (illness).
Alyssa Thomas looked right at home in her first game with Mabrey, finishing with 14 assists, 12 points and eight rebounds.
“(Thomas) is such a dynamic player, so playing off of her is really easy, just like moving around, and she sees everything,” Mabrey said.
The Dream (8-17) also were successful in their first game after the break. They ended an eight-game losing streak by defeating the visiting Seattle Storm 83-81 on Friday night.
Rhyne Howard scored a season-high 30 points, Allisha Gray had 19 and Tina Charles capped a 16-point performance by making a basket with 1.1 seconds left. Howard made three 3-pointers en route to scoring 14 points in the third quarter, and Jordin Canada supplied all 10 of her points in the fourth.
“I think Rhy (Howard) did an amazing job of keeping things calm for everybody, keeping things poised,” Dream coach Tanisha Wright said. “Obviously, she took over in the third quarter.”
Howard, who helped the U.S. team win a bronze medal in 3-on-3 basketball at the Paris Games, had her fourth career 30-point game.
“She was just in an amazing zone,” Charles said. “I kept telling her to keep going because only a few can really get in that type of zone. It was great to be on the floor with her, to see that and witness that.”
–Field Level Media
