Marine Fauthoux is beginning to show the New York Liberty what they have been missing since drafting her over five years ago. The French guard, who made her WNBA debut just two months ago, has emerged as a significant contributor off the bench in the past two weeks.
Fauthoux, 25, was a draft-and-stash player who suffered a torn left ACL last year. After a few early appearances, she was sidelined for 12 games before returning to action on July 18. Since her re-insertion into the rotation, coinciding with the benching of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, the Liberty have won five of their last six games, with Fauthoux playing a crucial role in each contest.
"She’s just so poised,” Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu said. “She missed a lot of time at the beginning of the year … and it feels like she hasn’t missed a beat. She’s able to come in, make play after play, she gets deflections, she gets [offensive] boards, she pushes the ball, she makes great passes and reads, she doesn’t turn the ball over a lot, she makes big shots when we need it.”
Since becoming a regular part of the rotation, Fauthoux is averaging over 18 minutes per game, posting 6.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting 44.8 percent from the field, including 36.8 percent from three-point range. She recorded a career-high five assists in 14 minutes during a recent win over the Seattle Storm, and six days prior, scored a career-best 13 points against the Los Angeles Sparks. Earlier in August, she achieved a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime victory against the Dallas Wings.
"I just want to win,” Fauthoux stated. “Every time I’m on the court, I want to give my best. It’s the most important for me to help the team and fight.”
Head coach Chris DeMarco emphasized Fauthoux's high level of competitiveness and her ability to execute subtle plays that do not always appear in statistics. “The compete level with Marine is just so high and she does all these little things that’s not going to show up in a boxscore,” DeMarco said. “She’ll catch the ball on the wing and she’ll fake a little bit just to move a defender, set up a pick-and-roll. She’ll use her eyes to look this way, find the pocket. She does all these little things that just aren’t going to pop unless you’re really looking at each individual action.”
He added, “It’s just those intangibles, and then defensively, she’s in the right spots and she competes and she just elevates our other players. So the way she’s been playing, she’s going to get those minutes.”
Fauthoux is currently playing under a developmental contract and has two more games remaining before the Liberty would need to convert her to a standard contract, potentially requiring the team to waive another player. She may also miss up to four games later in August to participate in a training camp with the French national team in preparation for the FIBA World Cup.