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Every basketball fan who hasn’t been living under a rock knows about Marina Mabrey’s record-breaking 47-point performance in Unrivaled. For the league, it only added to an already historic night. For Mabrey, it was a response to fans’ disrespect towards the Lunar Owls, as she revealed on Sue Bird’s podcast Bird’s Eye View.
“I saw a lot of people on social media talking about, ‘Oh, the Owls shouldn’t be in this. Trade them for someone else.’ Alright, keep that same energy. Hold that, and I’ll see what I can do about that,” Mabrey said. “I don’t like that because we’re all professionals, and we’ve had a lot of injuries, and we’ve been very close in a lot of instances. Our record doesn’t reflect that. We’re not as bad as our record is by any means whatsoever. So, to disrespect us like that and the work and the time that we’ve put in, that kind of hit me a little bit.”
Mabrey’s 47-point performance was a bright spot for a struggling Lunar Owls team
The Lunar Owls got hit by injuries early on. Napheesa Collier has to miss the entire season and was replaced by Temi Fagbénlé. Skylar Diggins also had to miss the team’s first three games. Losing Collier and replacing her with a role player, basically ended the Lunar Owls’ title chances before the season even started.
The Lunar Olws haven’t looked much like a contender either. They lost eight of their first ten games. They beat the Vinyl in January and the Rose in Philadelphia. A few of their losses were close, though. They lost to the Laces by four points and to the Hive by three.
Fans have been especially critical of Rebecca Allen and Rachel Banham. Some have even suggested that they should be replaced by players from the development pool. A lot of that criticism goes back to their struggles with the Chicago Sky in the 2025 WNBA season.
Allen and Banham have largely done their jobs, though. Banham has made at least one three in all but one game, and Allen has been playing solid defense and has had a handful of good scoring games. She scored nine points against the Mist and 10 against the Vinyl.
With only two wins and just four games left in the season, the Lunar Owls’ chances of securing a playoff spot are slim. It’s not the end of the world, though. This would be a much different team if Collier weren’t out for the whole season. Plus, there have still been a few bright spots. Mabrey’s scoring explosion in Philadelphia was one. Aaliyah Edwards’ strong play and development is another.
