TORONTO - The Toronto Tempo almost had a fairy-tale ending in their first-ever WNBA regular-season game, but falling short 68-65 to the Washington Mystics didn't diminish the historic night.
Marina Mabrey, the team's biggest star, sank two free throws with 32 seconds left to put Toronto ahead. But Mystics center Shakira Austin responded with four clutch free throws down the stretch, finishing with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kiki Iriafen added a double-double of 12 points and 16 boards for Washington (1-0).
Mabrey led all scorers with 27 points and 7 rebounds for the expansion Tempo (0-1). She was selected sixth overall in the WNBA expansion draft and signed a two-year, $2.4 million maximum contract.
Head coach Sandy Brondello acknowledged the growing pains. "We need time just to script it a little bit more, our end of games," she said. The roster was finalized just the day before.
The sold-out crowd of 8,210 at Coca-Cola Coliseum created an electric atmosphere. Fans lined up for merchandise, and a galaxy of Canadian sports stars attended, including soccer legend Christine Sinclair, sprinter Andre de Grasse, and Toronto Raptors players Immanuel Quickley and Sandro Mamukelashvili.
"Young girls and boys are watching this and realizing that they, one day, could be a professional basketball player too," said Adam van Koeverden, Canada’s Secretary of State for Sport.