Toronto Tempo fall short of fairy-tale ending in first-ever WNBA regular-season game

The Toronto pace almost had a fairy-tale conclusion in their first-ever WNBA regular-season biz, but coming up unawares didn't ruination the night.

Marina Mabrey, arguably the biggest name on the expansion team's roster, sank two free throws with 32 seconds left to play to put Toronto ahead of the Washington Mystics by a point and bring the sold-out Coca-Cola Coliseum crowd of 8,210 to its feet as Tempo fans anticipated a win in the franchise's inaugural home opener.

But Mystics star Shakira Austin was fouled twice in the remaining time, making all four of her free throws as Washington won 68-65 on Friday.

"Sad that we didn't win the game, didn't close it out, but the fans were fantastic," said Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello. "It was a very ugly game.

"Hopefully they get way prettier than that as we move forward."

Austin and Kiki Iriafen each had a double-double for Washington (1-0) in the season opener for both teams. Austin had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Iriafen had 12 points and 16 boards.

Mabrey led all scorers with 27 points and pulled down seven boards for the expansion Tempo (0-1). Mabrey was selected sixth overall by Toronto in the WNBA's expansion draft on April 3. She signed a two-year, $2.4 million US maximum contract with the Tempo.

"I want to win really bad," said Mabrey on how her made shots affected the crowd. "I know that if I can bring that kind of energy, it would be contagious, contagious for everyone."

Brittney Sykes sank the first-ever basket in franchise history in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,210 at Coca-Cola Coliseum. She finished with 14 points.

Brittney Sykes scores the first points in Toronto Tempo history

Brondello said that the "clunkiness" at the end of the game that led to Austin's four free throws is something that she'll have to iron out over the coming weeks. The Australian has been in the WNBA for 27 of its 30 years as a player or a coach and said that these hiccups were to be expected for an expansion team whose roster had only been finalized the day before.

"We need time just to script it a little bit more, are our end of games," she said. "We've only just started to do it this past week, riding off the ball.

"We've just got to do a little better. We've just got to execute a little bit better with how we want to play."

What was not in doubt was how successful the game was from a sales and marketing perspective.

Coca-Cola Coliseum was sold out with hundreds of fans buying standing room only tickets. Before the game, the longest line on the arena's concourse was for the merchandise stand by the building's main entrance, even as fans all got free T-shirts.

A galaxy of Canadian stars were in attendance, with soccer legend Christine Sinclair getting a lengthy standing ovation during the stoppage of play between the third and fourth quarters. Sinclair's 190 international goals are the most in soccer history, regardless of gender.

Sprinting superstar Andre de Grasse, who has seven Olympic medals, was also in attendance. Current Toronto Raptors Immanuel Quickley and Sandro Mamukelashvili also took in the game, as did former teammates Serge Ibaka and Chris Boucher.

Four-time Olympic medallist Adam van Koeverden, who is now Canada's Secretary of State for Sport, said that he believed the Tempo will inspire a new generation of children to take up basketball.

"Young girls and boys are watching this and realizing that they, one day, could be a professional basketball player too," said van Koeverden "Or they might just want to go outside and shoot hoops a little bit.

"That's just awesome, because we need more young people engaged in sport. We need more court time, more pool time, more field time, more ice time, less screen time, more friendships, less follower counts. It's all about the analog in 2026."

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