You missed it if you blinked. Toronto Tempo guard Marina Mabrey dropped 53 points on the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night to tie the WNBA single-game scoring record.
The Tempo demolished the Sparks 125-97 in a game that turned into a one-woman highlight reel. Mabrey shot 17-of-28 from the field, hit a WNBA record tying nine three-pointers on 18 attempts, and went 10-of-12 from the free throw line. All in 32 minutes.
The 53 points ties the all time mark first set by Liz Cambage with the Dallas Wings against the New York Liberty on July 17, 2018, and matched by A’ja Wilson when she did it for the Las Vegas Aces against the Atlanta Dream on August 22, 2023. That is rare company.
Mabrey is 29 years old and in her seventh WNBA season. She has always been a bucket. She has never been a 53-point bucket. The expansion Tempo got the most efficient single game performance in league history from a player most casual fans probably could not have picked out of a lineup five years ago.
The Tempo, who joined the WNBA this season as part of the league’s expansion push into Canada, just got the franchise’s first signature moment. Maple Leaf Square will be selling Mabrey jerseys all summer.
The nine made threes are the part of this stat line that feels untouchable. The all time WNBA record was already at nine, set by Diana Taurasi and a small group of others. Mabrey matched it on a night when she could not miss from anywhere.
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts had no answer. Los Angeles tried switching defenders. Mabrey kept shooting. Roberts tried sending double teams. Mabrey kept passing out and getting it back. There are nights when a hot shooter is impossible to guard, and this was one of them.
The Sparks are 8-14 and going nowhere. They are reportedly already weighing trades. Watching Mabrey light them up at home is the kind of game that accelerates fire sale conversations.
Mabrey will not put up 53 again. Almost nobody ever will. But she just joined Cambage and Wilson on the shortest list in WNBA history, and her name is going to live on every leaderboard for a very long time.
The Tempo are 12-9 and surging. With Mabrey playing like this, do not be surprised if they make a deep playoff run in year one. Expansion teams are not supposed to do this. Nobody told the Tempo.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
