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The expansion Toronto Tempo secured their first-ever WNBA victory on Wednesday night, defeating the Seattle Storm 86-73 at home. The team had opened their season with a narrow 68-65 loss to the Washington Mystics last Friday, making this win a major milestone.
After the win, the Tempo players celebrated by showering their head coach, Sandy Brondello, with water. Guard Brittney Sykes recalled, “She thought it was cool coming in there and she just had her paper and then Kia had the keyword. [Sandy] didn’t hear it so we can’t say it again. We called our keyword and then we just lit her up with some water.”
Brondello was ready for the surprise. “I took my jacket off. I knew it was going to happen. I was just, yeah, you don’t want to see these arms. That’s why I’m covering them up,” she joked, draping towels over her shoulders.
Forward Maria Conde stressed the significance of the victory for the team and their fans. “Amazing, especially for the fans. They show up every night. The other day, we were sad that we couldn’t get it for them. But tonight was just special, first win for coach, for the team, for the country. We just gotta keep building on this.”
Brondello described their season opener as “clunky” and emphasized the importance of improvement. “It’s just one of those things where you look at last game, you don’t want to repeat it, win, lose, draw,” Sykes added. “We got better tonight, and that was the biggest takeaway. Seattle’s a really good team, and it’s just one of those things where we trusted each other.”
The game featured a close first half with both teams even at halftime, Seattle leading 45-44. Toronto then surged in the second half, outscoring Seattle 42-28 thanks to a strong defensive effort. An 18-6 run in the third quarter pushed Toronto’s lead to nine points, which they extended to double digits in the fourth quarter. Marina Mabrey led the charge, scoring 16 of her team-high 26 points after halftime.
Toronto also forced Seattle into 19 turnovers throughout the game. Brondello noted, “First half, we were scoring easily and then the defence was a little bit behind too and that’s a part of it. This is best players in the world here. But I thought we only kept it to 28 points in that second half, so when we need to, in both of these, they start with that defensive intensity.”
She added, “When we’re moving the ball and playing together, it looks good. So we made steps forward, obviously not our end destination. We know we can keep getting better, but it was nice to get the win and these players play like they did.”
Following this victory, the Tempo head into a four-game road trip with stops in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Minnesota. Despite the challenges of being a new team assembled late in the offseason, Brondello sees positives in the upcoming stretch. “I love the road, I get to sleep a little bit more, but these players get to bond a little bit too, get to know each other, because we’re around each other all the time,” she said.
With six games in 11 days ahead, Brondello said, “It’s an opportunity for us to grow and face adversity when we will, but it shows the character of the team, how we’re going to respond to that. I’m excited about that.”
