Marina Mabrey delivered a historic performance on Thursday night, matching the WNBA single-game scoring record with 53 points to lead the Toronto Tempo to a 125-97 rout of the Los Angeles Sparks. Mabrey tied the mark previously set by Liz Cambage for Dallas against New York on July 17, 2018, and later matched by A’ja Wilson for Las Vegas at Atlanta on August 22, 2023.
The 29-year-old former Notre Dame star was remarkably efficient, finishing 17 of 28 from the field. She also tied the WNBA record for 3-pointers with nine in 18 attempts and made 10 of 12 free throws. Her performance shattered the expansion team’s previous scoring high of 38 points, which had been set twice by Brittney Sykes.
Julie Allemand contributed 13 points and 14 assists for Toronto in the highest-scoring game in the franchise’s short history. For the Sparks, Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby each scored 21 points. Following the result, Toronto climbed back to.500 at 9-9, while Los Angeles fell to 8-9.
As Mabrey checked out with a minute remaining, fans briefly booed before erupting into cheers, eventually chanting, “We Want Mabrey! We Want Mabrey!” The win marked the start of a nine-game homestand for the Tempo, which includes two upcoming contests at Montreal’s Bell Centre. The report also notes that the clock ticked down to zero with chants of “We Want Mabrey.
