The first three games of the WNBA season provided a little bit of everything. There were blowouts, dominant performances by stars, a close contest and a franchise making its inaugural debut.<\/p>\n
This was just the beginning of what will be a 44-game season for every team, but if Friday night was any indication, Year 30 of the WNBA will be an exciting one.<\/p>\n
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Here are all the key moments that occurred on the first night of the season.<\/p>\n
Toronto<\/a> makes history as Washington gets the win<\/p>\n Regardless of the result, Friday was a win for Toronto.<\/p>\n The Tempo<\/a> had their very first home game, and the sold-out crowd of 8,210 packed the Coca-Cola Coliseum for their matchup against the Washington Mystics<\/a>.<\/p>\n The basketball wasn\u2019t pretty. Toronto shot 27 percent from the field and had 16 turnovers and the game was low scoring with neither team cracking 70 points.<\/p>\n But when Brittney Sykes<\/a> made the first basket in Tempo history, the crowd erupted as if it were a game-winning basket.<\/p>\n The Mystics led for the majority of the contest, but the Tempo stayed within striking distance. Then Toronto went on a 5-0 run late in the game and tied it up on a Skyes triple with under two minutes to go.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The rest of the game became a free throw contest as neither side could convert on their field goal attempts. The Mystics sealed the result thanks to Shakira Austin<\/a> scoring the game\u2019s last four free throws.<\/p>\n In the 68-65 Mystics win, Sonia Citron<\/a> dominated with a team-high 26 points. Austin had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. For the Tempo, Sykes finished the game with 14 points, and Marina Mabrey<\/a> had a game-high 27.<\/p>\n Stewie shows off MVP form in Liberty domination<\/p>\n It might be the start of the year, but Breanna Stewart is already giving peak performances.<\/p>\n Stewart scored 31 points, went 10-for-17 from the field, and made 11 of her 12 free throws. Offensively, her only shortcoming was her 3-point shooting. She went 0-for-4 from deep, but the scoring inside was elite, with nine of her makes coming from the paint.<\/p>\n Thanks to Stewart\u2019s efforts, the Liberty cruised to a 106-75 victory over the Sun.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Stewie shined brightest, but she wasn\u2019t the only one who played well for New York. The Liberty had four of their five starters in double figures, and Julie Vanloo<\/a> dominated off the bench. She flirted with a triple-double with 12 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists. For Connecticut<\/a>, Diamond Miller<\/a> led the way with 16 points, and Brittney Griner<\/a> ended the night with 13 points and six rebounds.<\/p>\n In this first game, the Liberty looked like a team poised for a big season, while the Sun<\/a> seemed like a team in a transition period. It\u2019s just one contest, but Connecticut has to find a way to still compete and keep their spirits high, despite a move to Houston looming. If they don\u2019t figure out how to optimize their talent, then this could be a lame-duck season, and things can get very dark, real fast.<\/p>\n Sharpshooting Golden State secures victory in Seattle<\/a><\/p>\n If people thought the Golden State Valkyries<\/a>\u2019 first season was a fluke, well, the start of their second year certainly threw cold water on that theory. Once again, they were humming like a well-oiled machine offensively.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n They beat the Seattle Storm<\/a> 90-81 and did it off of some incredible 3-point shooting performances.<\/p>\n Janelle Sala\u00fcn came off the bench and scored 20 points, knocking down five 3s. Kaitlyn Chen<\/a> joined her as an explosive reserve, scoring 14 points while shooting 50 percent from the field.<\/p>\n As a team, the Valkyries knocked down 41 percent of their 3s with nearly half of their field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n