Marina Mabrey, A’ja Wilson and the highest scoring games in WNBA history

Bullet point summary by AI

• The WNBA’s top 10 single-game scoring performances showcase some of the league’s most explosive talent over 30 seasons.
• Only three players have ever reached the historic 53-point mark, each bringing unique skills to their record-tying nights.
• The debate over efficiency and impact highlights how different players achieve similar scoring milestones in dramatically different ways.

Last night, all eyes were on Marina Mabrey as she put on a masterclass against the Los Angeles Sparks in front of the faithful Toronto Tempo fans. With about three minutes to go in the third quarter, she drained her signature long-range 3-ball to put her at 39 points on the night, a new career-high. Except she wasn’t done yet. After a few more buckets, she made history in the fourth quarter as she launched one from deep, putting her nightly total at 53 points, tying the WNBA single-game record.

In the WNBA’s 30-year history, only two other players have reached this milestone — A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage. But there have been plenty of other iconic high-scoring performances across the league’s existence. Here are the top 10 highest-scoring WNBA performances.

Now this isn’t a ‘who did it best?’ competition, because I have a feeling every 50+ point performance is pretty jaw-dropping. But, just for fun, let’s take a look at each of the three 53-point performances.

Liz Cambage: July 17, 2018

Of course, this performance is pretty cemented in the brains of WNBA fans because Cambage was the first player to break that 50+ point threshold. The game came during the 2018 season when she and the Dallas Wings handed the New York Liberty a 104-87 loss, with plenty of thanks to Cambage’s performance.

She finished the game shooting 77.3 percent from the floor — the most efficient of all three 53-point performances. She even drained 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. She finished the night 15-of-16 from the free throw line and also recorded 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 blocks.

A’ja Wilson: Aug. 22, 2023

You’ll notice Wilson is the only player listed more than once on the top 10 single-game scorers list — she’s simply a scoring machine. Her legendary 53-point performance came during a 112-100 Aces win over the Atlanta Dream during the 2023 season. She finished the night shooting 69.6 percent from the floor — including one of only nine 3-pointers she drained that season. She also recorded 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. Wilson shot 20-of-21 from the free throw line — the most of the three 53-point performances.

Wilson got close to beating the record earlier this season, when she recorded 45 points against the Connecticut Sun.

Marina Mabrey: June 25, 2026

While 53 points ties the league record, Mabrey is the only guard to achieve this number. Last night, she also tied the league record for most 3-pointers in a game with nine. Although she’s no stranger to tying this record, as she just did it against Connecticut on June 19 — and most efficiently, shooting 75 percent from beyond the arc. She and Rhyne Howard are the only two players in the league to have two games in which they’ve made 9 3-pointers.

Back to last night, though, Mabrey finished the night with 6 rebounds and 2 assists to go along with her 53 points. She went to the charity stripe the least across these three performances, shooting 10-of-12. She shot 60.7 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from 3-point land. Per ESPN, when asked about her historic night, Mabrey said, “I think tonight was just my night from the 3-point line and from honestly everywhere. It was all going in… And then the fans, to have them chanting ‘MVP,’ I don’t know that I ever imagined that. But it was really a good feeling.”

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