The Toronto Tempo danced to the first winning streak in franchise history behind sharpshooting from Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes.
Whoa, Canada …the Toronto Tempo stand on guard for three.
The Tempo has secured the first winning streak in franchise history, pairing a Sunday win in Los Angeles with Tuesday’s triumph by a 98-90 final over the Phoenix Mercury. Marina Mabrey scored 30 points, but that wasn’t enough to lead the team, as Brittney Sykes beat her by one. Sykes’ output was actually a regression in its finest form, if only because she was fresh off a career-best tally of 38 in SoCal.
Nevertheless, such a collaboration was good for the 17th case of dueling 30-spots on the same team in WNBA history. It took the Tempo just five showings to earn such an occasion under head coach and backcourt whisperer Sandy Brondello.
“You see us playing pretty good ball early in the season,” Brondello said after Tuesday’s win, per Gilbert Ngabo of the Toronto Star. “We found some chemistry, found what works, and even when we’re facing a lot of adversity with injuries, we just stay true, we always keep believing in the next person, and it shows on the court. I think we’re having a lot of fun.”
MARINA MABREY TONIGHT
• 30 POINTS
• 5 REBOUNDS
• 3 ASSISTS
• 32 MINUTES PLAYED pic.twitter.com/pqfXOuEf4Q— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) May 20, 2026
Toronto (3-2) is the first expansion team to have a winning record after its first five games since the original Minnesota Lynx in 1999. To Brondello’s point, it’s a mark that has been earned without some of its early finds, such as Julie Allemmand, Temi Fágbénlé, Isabelle Harrison, and Nyara Sabally.
The Tempo’s early success was defined by defense, though injuries to Allemand, Fagbenle, and Sabally have forced the team to adjust to a more scoreboard-friendly approach (even if Lexi Held continues to hold down the fort). The true two has been touched by the triple: entering Thursday play, no team in the WNBA had sunk more with an extra point on the line than the Tempo (52), and Mabrey ranks second in threes per game among all players (3.6).
Million Dollar Arms
The general consensus around the original Tempo roster was that it was an upbeat … pun fully intended … attempt to replicate the immediate impact that the Golden State Valkyries posted in their first ride. Toronto came out shooting, swinging, and spending in its maiden voyage, such moves highlighted by the newly-minted millionaires in the backcourt.
Toronto wasted no time formally introducing itself to the prime WNBA scene: it acquired Mabrey in the shared expansion draft with Portland before luring Sykes with a surprisingly lucrative contract that came after a meandering (yet All-Star-worthy) season between Washington and Seattle.
It’s safe to say that Sykes has rendered such struggles long forgotten: well-regarded for her defensive prowess, the 10-year veteran is the Association’s second-leading scorer entering Thursday play, behind only Sunday opponent Kelsey Plum, at 25.6 points per game, more than doubling the 11-plus she had in 14 games with the Storm.
Sykes is generating space with 18 tries from the field per game, which is over five full attempts more than her previous best with the Mystics in 2023. Creating shots for others has also been a continued theme: Sykes has earned at least 100 assists in three of the last four seasons and seems well on pace to add a fourth, dishing out a career-best 4.8 per game in the early going.
“[With Toronto] I’m getting to do what I want to do, which is score the ball,” Sykes said after the weekend win out west, per Chelsea Leite of TSN. “I have a coach and staff who understand the asset that I am, and they let that go on full display. There’s a green light for me to just play my basketball.”
A New Chapter for Mabrey, Sykes in Toronto
Watching Sykes come through for an injury-riddled team is perhaps irony in its sweetest form: Sykes saw her own offensive progress thwarted by medical interruption in the past, such as two torn ACLs that came after she averaged over 16 points per game as a Syracuse sophomore.
“I had a lot of time to sit and watch what the game was outside of just playing,” Sykes recalled of her early injury departures in an interview with Zulfi Sheikh of Raptors Republic. “You start to realize how you affect the game more than just basketball. It’s personal relationships, work relationships, being intuitive about, OK, my teammate, this has nothing to do with basketball … How can I be of assistance to them?
“When I look back, everything good, bad, and different was literally preparing me for the next stage … keep your plan in mind, because my plan was always to be a franchise player.”
While Sykes’ offensive breakout has perhaps been an unexpected marvel, Mabrey has likewise returned to form with her expanded shooting prowess. Frequently lingering in the Sixth Woman of the Year discussion since arriving as a second-round pick in 2019, Mabrey has flourished in a headliner’s role with the Tempo, sinking just under 40 percent of her tries from three (best since her sophomore season with Dallas in the Bradenton bubble).
Brittney Sykes was on fire vs. the Sparks:
38 PTS (new career-high)
— espnW (@espnW) May 18, 2026
Each shooter’s new contract has also given her a chance to discover a sense of hardwood home: Mabrey has not spent two full seasons with the same team since a three-year stint with the Wings, while Sykes is wearing her fifth uniform since arriving in the top 10 of 2017’s draft.
Now firmly entrenched at the top of the Toronto on-court hierarchy (even as champion rookie Kiki Rice has started to steal the spotlight), they’re apparently more than happy to take things personally up north.
“I think teams look at us as being a new team rather than who is on the team,” Sykes noted Tuesday’s win, per Leite. “[Mabrey and I] are both players who probably didn’t get our fair share of shine and acknowledgment throughout our careers. I don’t see us as underdogs. Others might, we’re probably two of the most ‘don’t want to see’ players, both on the court at the same time. Fun for whoever has to figure that out.”
Mabrey, Sykes, and the Tempo remain stateside for one more game, as they close out a four-part road trip in Minneapolis on Thursday night (8 p.m. ET, TSN).
Geoff Maglioccchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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