There are hot shooting nights, and then there is whatever Marina Mabrey produced in the Tempo’s win over the Sun. The former Connecticut star performed lights out, which bordered on historic. And when asked about it, she couldn’t even put it into words.

“I can’t say what I wanna say. Dubs, dubs. I’ll just say that,” Mabrey managed to say in her post-win interview on the court.

 It wasn’t just the fact that she drained nine 3-pointers, but how she did it. She pulled 75 percent of her shots from beyond the arc and went a perfect 5-of-5 in the fourth quarter alone, finishing the night a career-high 9-of-12 from three-point range overall. That nine made threes tied the WNBA single-game record.

Mabrey became the sixth player to ever put up a masterclass like this. She joined Chelsea Gray, Rhyne Howard, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, and Kelsey Mitchell to pull nine three-pointers in a single game. What’s more impressive is that she left the two players well-known for their long-range shots tonight: Diana Taurasi (8) and Caitlin Clark (7).

However, it shouldn’t be as surprising. Mabrey was the key perimeter player in the Sun and had been a threat from beyond the arc for most of her WNBA career. But this was not the only way she contributed to her team’s win.

Beyond the three-point barrage, Marina Mabrey delivered an overall stat line of 37 points, four rebounds, and four assists in the 101-97 win. She literally single-handedly dragged the Toronto Tempo back from a 13-point halftime deficit to secure a stunning comeback victory. Watching that kind of performance unfold in real time, Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello couldn’t help but reach for one of the highest compliments in basketball.

“Looked like I was watching Diana Taurasi out there because I’ve seen her get in the fire and just how effortless it is, and just how fast she can shoot, the confidence she has. We’re lucky to have her,” Brondello said, describing Mabrey’s fourth-quarter explosion.

The Tempo came into the game on the back of a three-game losing streak, and for much of the contest, it looked like a fourth defeat was well on the way. Fortunately for Toronto, this comeback victory will give this team genuine momentum heading into their next matchup against the Atlanta Dream.

Marina Mabrey Says Frustration Sparked Her Historic Fourth-Quarter Takeover vs Connecticut

A lot of things can fire a player up to deliver a brilliant individual performance or single-handedly carry a team to victory. For Marina Mabrey, the spark behind her historic fourth-quarter takeover came from somewhere a little less glamorous– it came from pure frustration.

“For me personally, there were parts in the game that really kind of fired me up, or were really pissing me off,” she said when WNBA journalist Savannah Hamilton asked how she was able to turn things up so dramatically in the fourth quarter. 

“Sometimes you have to use little moments like that,” Hamilton posted what Mabrey told her. “This is a long season, and it’s hard, 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.”

For a Toronto Tempo team still finding its footing, having a player capable of manufacturing that kind of brilliance out of nothing may prove to be one of its most valuable assets as the season continues. They now have an 8-8 record. Hopefully, this excitement leads to more wins. And coach Brondello, who has coached a team like the New York Liberty to a WNBA title, certainly knows who she’s got in Mabrey:

“She’s one of the best pure shooters that I’ve seen, and I’ve coached some pretty amazing ones,” Brondello said.