TORONTO – Marina Mabrey had 27 points and Brittney Sykes added 14 as the Toronto Tempo lost their first ever regular season game 68-65 to the Washington Mystics Friday night.
Mabrey also led the Tempo (0-1) in rebounds with seven, and Nyara Sabally added six.
Sabally had three steals, including a pivotal one that nearly made the difference for Toronto late in the fourth.
Laura Juskaite had seven points off the bench all in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer that tied the game for Toronto late in the frame, but both her and Sabally committed costly fouls that put the game out of reach for the Tempo.
Mabrey was 12-for-14 (85.7 per cent) at the free-throw line, while the team as a whole was 26-for-35 (74.3 per cent).
Washington (1-0) was led by Sonia Citron with 26 points and Shakira Austin with 18.
The Mystics’ Kiki Iriafen recorded a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds, 12 of which were defensive.
Montreal native Cassandre Prosper opened the scoring for the Mystics with a driving layup, but Sykes would need only 19 seconds to even the score for Toronto; her jump shot the first two points in Tempo regular season history.
Although Toronto would take 4-2 and 6-4 leads off free throws from Tami Fegbenle and Sabally, the Mystics went on a nine-point run led by Austin’s six points and capped with a three-pointer from Georgia Amoore.
Julie Allemand would then make the first three-pointer in Tempo history, assisted by Hamilton, Ont., native Kia Nurse. Allemand would later return the favour, assisting on Nurse’s jump shot.
Iriafen scored a final basket for the Mystics before the quarter ended, assisted by Amoore to give Washington the 17-13 lead after one.
Citron extended the Washington lead to 19-13 to open the second, but Marina Mabrey drew personal fouls off both Amoore and Wilson to score six points on the free-throw line, bringing the game to a tie.
After another Amoore three-pointer, Mabrey fouled on Citron to send her to the free-throw line, restoring a five-point Mystics lead. Mabrey then hit another jump shot and Sykes a driving layup to narrow Toronto’s deficit to one point.
After an Austin jump shot, Mabrey drew another foul, this time off Prosper, and continued to punish Washington on the free-throw line with another two points. Sykes then went to the free-throw line after an Angela Dugalic foul and brought the Tempo to a one-point lead.
A Dugalic layup and another free throw from Sykes brought the game to a deadlock with three minutes and 49 seconds to go in the quarter, but Citron and Iriafen backstopped a 9-2 run for Washington at the end of the frame, putting it ahead 37-30 at the half.
The third quarter saw the Tempo immediately jump to an 8-2 run on the back of Mabrey’s two three-pointers, pulling within one, but Washington took back the momentum with an 11-3 run of its own, led by Austin and Citron.
Sykes responded with another four points and Mabrey two as the Tempo finished the quarter on a 6-1 run to cut Washington’s lead to 51-47.
In the fourth quarter, Juskaite scored four points off the bench for the Tempo and Maria Conde added two, while Mabrey scored on another free throw and three-pointer to give Toronto a one-point advantage.
It wouldn’t be too long before the Mystics reclaimed the lead on another five points from Citron, but a steal by Sabally followed by a running layup would cut the lead to three, and Juskaite would hit a crucial three-pointer to tie the game at 63 points each.
Iriafen scored one at the free-throw line, but Mabrey bested her with two free throws to put Toronto ahead 65-64 with 32 seconds left to play.
However, Austin would draw a personal foul off Sabally that proved to be the difference in the game, as the Mystics would take a 66-65 lead off her free throws, and would finish 68-65 after she added another two off a Juskaite foul.
The Tempo are back in action to host the Seattle Storm Wednesday night.