There was no stopping Marina Mabrey on Friday night. She absolutely scorched the Mohegan Sun Arena nets for a career-high 37 points, burying nine 3-pointers to carry the Toronto Tempo past the Connecticut Sun 101-97.
Toronto trailed by 16 points in the second half before Mabrey dragged them back, pouring in 21 points in the final frame.
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Marina Mabrey Comes Back To Haunt Connecticut With Historic Performance
Mabrey’s performance carried emotional weight, as the Sun watched their former offensive focal point walk away in the 2026 expansion draft, and she made them pay for the departure.
Connecticut initially denied Mabrey’s trade request before the 2025 campaign, keeping her on a rebuilding roster.
The Sun established a 50-37 halftime advantage, crowding the paint and forcing the Tempo into uncomfortable perimeter looks early.
But in the second half, Mabrey found her rhythm, began pulling up from well beyond the arc, and finished the night shooting an absurd 9-of-12 from deep to tie the single-game 3-point record.
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The Tempo outscored the Sun 64-47 over the final two quarters, and the WNBA community was buzzing about Mabrey’s stunning performance.
One user proclaimed, “Yeah I’m giving the script right now. If Marina Mabrey is an all star, she will be the All Star Game MVP.”
Women’s Hoops Network posted Mabrey’s stat line, highlighting her impact in Toronto’s comeback.
“Shes so bigtime,” one account posted.
“Marina Mabrey on an insane heater,” another quipped.
“if you don’t think marina mabrey deserves to be an all-star, respectfully you’re nuts…👑👩🍳,” women’s basketball writer Emmy Spersrud posted.
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“Marina. Sonya. Olivia Miles. Arike. Hannah Soon. What the heck is in that South Bend water man 😭😭She creates space so effortlessly sometimes, it’s crazy,” one user observed.
Mabrey capitalized on every inch of space, mixing her deadly perimeter touch with aggressive drives, drawing fouls, and collapsing the defense.
Toronto received critical contributions from its supporting cast, as Temi Fagbenle delivered a near-perfect offensive performance. The veteran center shot 8-for-9 from the floor, finishing with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
Maria Conde also sparked the Tempo off the bench, pouring in 19 points and grabbing 6 rebounds.
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After the game, Mabrey addressed her fourth-quarter explosion.
“For me personally, [there were] parts in the game that really kinda of fire me up, or [were] really [expletive] me off,” she said.
“Sometimes you have to use little moments like that. This is a long season, and it’s hard to come to Connecticut and sit in a casino for three days, and all of a sudden you don’t have any energy, so sometimes you just need to make some out of nothing.”
After breaking their three-game losing streak, Toronto (8-8) will look to build from this inspirational performance when they take on the Atlanta Dream on Monday.
