Shakira Austin made four free throws down the stretch and the Washington Mystics held on to beat Toronto 68-65 on Friday night, spoiling the Tempo's inaugural WNBA game.

Sonia Citron scored 26 points, Austin had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Kiki Iriafen added 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Mystics. Austin made two free throws with 18 seconds left to put Washington ahead 66-65, then added two more with 11 seconds to play.

Marina Mabrey scored 27 points and Brittney Sykes had 14, but the Tempo couldn’t overcome poor shooting. Toronto shot 5 for 25 from 3-point range and went 17 for 63 overall.

 

Let the entire country know she’s HER. pic.twitter.com/lxM2F3Gf3q

— Toronto Tempo (@TempoBasketball) May 9, 2026

 

In Brooklyn, Breanna Stewart had 31 points and 10 rebounds to help the short-handed New York Liberty open their season with a 106-75 rout of the Connecticut Sun.

Marine Johannes added 17 points for New York, which was missing star guard Sabrina Ionescu, who is out with a left foot injury she suffered last Sunday in a preseason game against the Sun. Rebecca Allen has a left leg injury and Satou Sabally has a cyst. Both free-agent additions missed the opener as well.

 

Janelle Salaun scored 20 points and tied a career high with five 3-pointers, Veronica Burton had 16 points, and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Seattle Storm 91-80 in the season opener for both teams.

Kaitlyn Chen scored all 14 of her points in the second half and Kayla Thornton added 13 for Golden State, which led 49-41 at halftime and 69-53 after three quarters. Seven different Valkyries made a 3-pointer, and the team finished 15 of 37 from distance.