Toronto Tempo’s path to victory in WNBA, and an early CEBL favourite

After two years of talk, the reality of the WNBA in Toronto finally arrived on Friday.

Through all the pre-game pomp and circumstance, it felt most real as players were introduced and we put faces to names in blue-and-purple Tempo jerseys. For many involved in the project, it had all come together in this moment.

It felt real again when Brittney Sykes poured in the first basket in team history, a mid-range jumper on the team’s first offensive possession.

And then it felt real once more as Julie Allemand drained Toronto’s first three-pointer, leading one man sitting underneath the excess media section to exclaim, “I’ll remember that. Nurse to Allemand, first three in Tempo history.”

There are plenty more firsts still to come for the Tempo, but the most immediate is a win.

Toronto lost both of its exhibition games, and it fought valiantly amid shooting woes against the Washington Mystics in the home opener, but ultimately felt short there too despite briefly holding a late lead.

Toronto Tempo start inaugural season with loss to Washington Mystics

Losing? That’s a different kind of reality — one many expansion teams must live with, but also one this particular franchise does not seem willing to accept.

“I want to win really bad,” said star Marina Mabrey, who led the team with 27 points and played to the crowd as she produced big moments down the stretch. “I know if I can bring that kind of energy, it can be contagious for everyone.”

The game against Washington showed both the Tempo’s path to winning and exposed some weaknesses.

If the Tempo are going to have any success, it will start with Mabrey, the team’s core player and best bet to reach the all-star game. Among her 27 points, the 29-year-old shot 12-for-14 from the