The WNBA set a regular-season attendance record Friday when the Toronto Tempo hosted the Dallas Wings in Montreal in front of 20,996 fans. It was a massive win for Canada, a country that hasn\u2019t historically been known for its women\u2019s basketball culture.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been only three years since the league first forayed into Canada to host a preseason game in Toronto. Since then, the WNBA has had another exhibition game in Edmonton and a regular-season game in Vancouver before welcoming Toronto to the league in 2026. The Tempo haven\u2019t just carved out a home in Toronto; they are working hard to become Canada\u2019s team, setting the record in another province altogether.<\/p>\n
Keep in mind that this is a country that didn\u2019t even qualify for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, and the level of support becomes even more impressive. Canada is supporting a league that has only six rostered Canadian players.<\/p>\n
As the WNBA continues its growth trajectory, capturing an international audience is an ideal route to keep the arrow pointing up. Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts entertained the idea of playing games in Mexico as a nod to the team\u2019s increasing Latino\/a fanbase. More and more countries (including Slovenia, Denmark and South Korea) are represented in the league thanks to rising salaries and an improved player experience.<\/p>\n
Montreal is just the start. The W should try to meet its fans anywhere and everywhere.<\/p>\n
Trending upToronto Tempo<\/p>\n
The Tempo ended up losing that record-breaking matchup, but they bounced back against the New York Liberty as Marina Mabrey remains on an absolute heater. Since her backcourt partner Brittney Sykes was injured, Mabrey has thrived as Toronto\u2019s No. 1 option. Most players struggle with the extra defensive attention and volume, and their efficiency suffers. Mabrey has had no such difficulties.<\/p>\n
In her seven games without Sykes, Mabrey is averaging 29.6 points and 3.6 assists. Her turnovers (3.9 per game) are a little high, but she is making 50.6 percent of her field goals and 49.3 percent of her 3-pointers. She\u2019s also picked up two technical fouls during that stretch \u2014 though at just three for the season, the Tempo don\u2019t yet have to worry about losing her to a suspension.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Money Mabrey AGAIN\ud83d\ude42\u200d\u2195\ufe0f<\/p>\n
[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Toronto Tempo (@tempobasketball.bsky.social<\/a>) July 12, 2026 at 3:20 PM<\/a><\/p>\n In the matchup against New York, Mabrey had a 12-point, four-assist third quarter to help Toronto build a 20-point lead. She struggled some with her passing during the Liberty\u2019s fourth-period comeback, including on one superbly designed out-of-bounds set when she hit Nyara Sabally with too hot of a pass that likely would\u2019ve resulted in 2 points. But the shot-making was there, including a pull-up 3 to extend the lead to 6 with under four minutes to play, followed by a scoop shot on the ensuing possession \u2014 and then a made technical free throw after she was hit by a shoe. She accounted for 6 of the Tempo\u2019s final 8 points.<\/p>\n Even with a 1-2 record in the past week, Toronto moved up in the rankings because it finally beat a team in the top eight of the standings. The Tempo\u2019s next seven games come against current playoff teams, so they\u2019d better hope that this was a page-turning win.<\/p>\n Indiana Fever<\/p>\n Speaking of All-Star guards on heaters, Kelsey Mitchell had quite the week for the Fever. Over her last three games, Mitchell almost mirrored Mabrey, averaging 28.3 points and 4.7 assists while making 48.2 percent of her field goals and 47.8 percent of her 3s.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s offense hardly functions without Mitchell; the Fever are 16 points per 100 possessions better offensively with her on the court. Although Indiana is marginally better defensively when Mitchell sits, she still has the Fever\u2019s best on-off differential (plus 12.9) while playing the most minutes.<\/p>\n The Fever put the ball in Mitchell\u2019s hands down 1 with essentially one possession left in Phoenix and asked her to create. Even when the Mercury fought through Aliyah Boston\u2019s screen and kept Monique Akoa Makani attached to Mitchell, the Indiana guard simply used her burst to create some space and finished with her strong hand to earn the win.<\/p>\n Kelsey Mitchell drops 27 points in win over Aces<\/p>\n Every announcer hypes up Mitchell as the league\u2019s fastest player with the ball in her hands, and it never feels like overkill. While some players eagerly await the respite of the All-Star break, Mitchell is still playing at full speed.<\/p>\n Trending downPhoenix Mercury<\/p>\n Maybe it was karmic comeuppance for the Mercury to be blown out on the Aces\u2019 home floor after routing Las Vegas on the defending champions\u2019 ring day to open the season. But a 48-point loss is hard to overlook, even against a motivated Aces squad. That lowlight culminated a week of three defeats for Phoenix, with only the 3-point loss to Indiana (which was missing Caitlin Clark) acceptable for a team coming off a finals appearance.<\/p>\n It\u2019s no longer reasonable to equate this Mercury squad with the one that played on the last day of the WNBA season in 2025. Only two players have a positive net rating for Phoenix this season: Jovana Nogic will not return to the WNBA in 2026 and Natasha Mack is out with a bone bruise in her left foot.<\/p>\n The offense has been a particular struggle. Even against three teams ranked eighth, ninth and 11th in defensive rating, the Mercury had the league\u2019s worst offensive rating last week. They haven\u2019t been shooting the ball well \u2014 perhaps Sami Whitcomb\u2019s return addresses some of those concerns \u2014 and they don\u2019t get offensive rebounds. With Phoenix sitting six losses out of a playoff spot, it\u2019s worth considering if the 2027 draft lottery is more attractive than a 2026 postseason berth. The Mercury still control their first-rounder in the next draft, which could feature players like Madison Booker, Hannah Hidalgo and JuJu Watkins.<\/p>\n Rookie of the weekJustine Pissott, Las Vegas Aces<\/p>\n (Reminder: This isn\u2019t the best rookie of the week, rather a player who caught my eye.)<\/p>\n Justine Pissott signed a developmental contract with the Fever during the preseason and spent the first two months of the year waiting to be activated for her first WNBA minutes. It wasn\u2019t until the Aces poached her at the midseason cutdown deadline to replace Chennedy Carter that Pissott finally got her first chance.<\/p>\n That it came in a 48-point blowout shouldn\u2019t diminish the significance of Pissott\u2019s debut. You get only one first game, and Pissott will never forget the fireworks of hers, with 19 points in 10 minutes on eight field-goal attempts. She is the only player in league history to start her WNBA career with at least five 3-pointers. Pissott got up as many triples (six) in her professional debut as she averaged in her final college season at Vanderbilt. Aces coach Becky Hammon complimented Pissott\u2019s reads on the court, as she had a couple nifty passes when the Mercury realized that they had to run her off the 3-point line.<\/p>\n Pissott Pass<\/p>\n Sabreena Merchant<\/p>\n And A\u2019ja Wilson got her a lovely Toy Story backpack as part of her rookie initiation in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n Guess you can say the rook was in her \ud83c\udf92\ud83e\udd17<\/p>\n 19 PTS
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10 MIN@justinepissott<\/a> \/\/ @_ajawilson22<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Si4apk7pMV<\/a><\/p>\n