Marina Mabrey tied one of the biggest scoring records in basketball history. Instead of celebrating her achievement, the star guard chose to talk about her lowest moments. 

Mabrey tied the WNBA single-game scoring record by dropping 53 points against the Sparks on June 25. She led the Toronto Tempo to a 125-97 victory. 

After the game, she spoke to reporters. A video of the press conference was shared on X by reporter Savanna Hamilton. Mabrey noted, “Last season - I think I had one of my worst seasons… I didn't sulk about it. I just went back to the drawing board and went back to working really hard at Unrivaled.” 

She explained that she used her disappointment as motivation instead of feeling sorry for herself. She also tied the league record by hitting 9 three-pointers during the game. It became the highest-scoring performance in the short history of the new Toronto franchise.

She finished with 53 points on 17-of-28 shooting from the field. She tied the all-time single-game scoring record previously set by Liz Cambage and A'ja Wilson. 

Her struggles in 2025 with the Connecticut Sun are still on her mind. On paper, she averaged 14.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. However, her overall efficiency collapsed compared to her past seasons. 

She shot a career-low 36.7% from the field and just 27% from the three-point line. This was a drop for a player who shot over 40% from the field in prior years. The Sun finished with a terrible 11-33 record and missed the playoffs. 

After that season, Mabrey focused on getting better during the WNBA offseason. She used the new women's 3x3 league to rebuild her mental toughness against elite competition.

Her work at Unrivaled turned a difficult phase into a brilliant comeback

Unrivaled is a professional women's 3x3 basketball league played in Miami. WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart co-founded the league to give players a competitive option during the offseason. 

For Mabrey, who played limited games for Phantom BC before joining the Lunar Owls, it was the kind of fresh environment she needed to find her rhythm again.

She led the league in scoring with around 25.3 points per game. According to the Unrivaled Basketball website, she even set a league record with a 47-point game that included 10 made three-pointers. 

The results of that hard work are showing up in her 2026 WNBA numbers. Through her first 17 games of the season, she is averaging 19.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. 

More importantly, she is shooting 44.3% from the field and a strong 39% from beyond the arc. Toronto selected her in the Expansion Draft to help build the first Canadian franchise in WNBA history. 

Under head coach Sandy Brondello, the team fought to a competitive 9-9 record after the June 25 victory. 

Let us know if you view this as the most impressive career reset in recent basketball history.

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Written by

Utsav Sinha

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi