Toronto Tempo's Marina Mabrey shoots a 3-pointer against Seattle Storm's Flau'jae Johnson in Toronto on Wednesday. The Tempo won 86-73 to register the team's first-ever victory.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Behind another big performance from Marina Mabrey, the Toronto Tempo showed more cohesiveness in their second-ever game on Wednesday while picking up their first win in franchise history, 86-73 over the visiting Seattle Storm.
The crowd of 8,142 who came to see Canada’s new WNBA expansion team in its second-ever game was just shy of another sellout at Coca-Cola Coliseum. They treated the team to a standing ovation at the final buzzer when that first victory could be locked into the team’s history books.
Mabrey starred for the new franchise again, leading all scorers for a second consecutive contest, with 26 points. She went 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, plus added four rebounds and three assists. The burgeoning Tempo fan base is quickly falling in love with the celebratory backward trot she does after hitting a big bucket.
“Marina’s a sniper,” said Tempo coach Sandy Brondello. “One of the best shooters in this league.”
Mabrey’s connection with fellow million-dollar backcourt mate Brittney Sykes began to come into focus in Wednesday’s game. Sykes contributed 18 points and six assists on the night.
“I think we got better tonight,” said Sykes. “And that was the biggest takeaway.”
Kiki Rice and Marie Conde were both huge contributors off Toronto’s bench Wednesday.
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Conde, a Spanish forward who has been playing in Italy, added 16 points – including four 3-pointers and eight assists, playing starter-like minutes. She’s quickly impressing Brondello, especially since she arrived late to training camp after her season in Europe and already looks like very comfortable in the WNBA.
“She’s just off the plane, playing out of position and just says, ‘Coach, I’ll do whatever you want... I love those players,” said Brondello of the perimeter player she’s needed as a forward. “You see what she’s capable of, very high IQ Player… just fantastic, four threes, but just her overall energy, her rebounding, her persistence on the glass.”
Rice, Toronto’s first-ever draft pick, still fresh off an NCAA title with UCLA last month, scored 12 points.
“She’s a very mature player, and she knows who she is,” said Brondello of the rookie. “It was great to see her get on the scoreboard and be effective for us at both ends of the floor.”
While the Tempo had been clunky in their first game, they began to show glimpses of chemistry on Wednesday between freshly assembled teammates. Julie Allemand was finding the rookie Rice in transition, nifty running bounce passes from Mabrey to Sykes, the team creating space for Conde to knock down wide-open threes.
A seven-point burst by Toronto’s bench unit at the end of the first quarter – including a couple of driving layups by Rice – served notice that the reserves were poised for a good night.
The Tempo lost their inaugural game on Friday, 68-65 to the Washington Mystics. Mabrey was the leading scorer in that one, with 27 points – the most for any player in a WNBA expansion team’s first game.
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Brondello had been hoping for a better outing than her Tempo had on Friday. In that season-opener, Toronto didn’t move the ball well – the team had just 10 assists. Turning the ball over 16 times that night and missing nine free throws didn’t help either.
On Wednesday, the Tempo improved to 21 assists as a team. They went 15 of 18 from the free-throw line and trimmed their turnovers to 12. They improved on rebounding too, matching Seattle with 39 apiece in this category.
Toronto did well to adjust without Temi Fágbénlé on Wednesday, who had started the opener at centre. She was sidelined during the second game due to an ailing right shoulder.
The Tempo have been light on depth in the front court. They have not yet been able to play veteran WNBA forward Isabelle Harrison due to an injury to her right hand.
After the win, the team doused their coach in water to celebrate.
“We lit her up,” said Sykes.
“I was ready for it, even took my jacket off,” said the Australian coach with a laugh, still toweling off during her press conference.
Next, the Tempo (1-1) will leave their new home and head west for a four-game road trip against some tough WNBA teams. They’ll visit the Los Angeles Sparks for two games this weekend, before visiting the Phoenix Mercury and the Minnesota Lynx.