Marina Mabrey scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half on Saturday afternoon, helping the Toronto Tempo defeat the visiting Seattle Storm 93-72.
Kiki Rice scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half and added six rebounds and four steals as the Tempo (5-4) defeated Seattle (3-6) for the second time this season.
Toronto made 31 of 33 free throws.
Brittney Sykes added 15 points, Laura Juskaite scored 14 and Maria Conde scored 13.
Natisha Hiedeman had 18 points and seven assists for the Storm. Jordan Horston added 15 points and four steals.
The Tempo used a 33-20 third quarter to take a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter. Rice’s layup bumped the lead to 16 with 8:26 left. Rice converted two free throws to give the Tempo a 20-point lead with 6:33 to go. Juskaite hit a 3-pointer to put Toronto into a 23-point lead with 3:34 to play.
Toronto led by as many as 11 points before taking a 21-13 lead after one quarter, taking advantage of some sloppy Seattle play.
Jordan Horston’s layup finished off some good Seattle ball movement to cut the lead to three with 7:30 left in the second quarter. Horston trimmed the margin to one when she scored on a layup after picking off Rice’s errant pass. Mabrey nailed a 3-pointer with 2:57 to go, bumping the lead to four. Awa Fam’s layup completed the first-half scoring and cut Toronto’s lead to 37-36.
Each team committed nine turnovers in the first half. Seattle shot 41% (16 for 39) and Toronto was 36.7% (11 for 30).
Stefanie Dolson opened the scoring in the third quarter with a 3-pointer to give the Storm a two-point lead. The score was tied at 49 after Mabrey’s layup with 5:29 to play in the third.
Mabrey set up Rice for a layup that put Toronto ahead by two. Julie Allemand’s steal and layup put Toronto ahead by four with three minutes remaining. The lead reached six on two Rice free throws. Conde’s 3-pointer gave the Tempo a 10-point lead with 52 seconds to go, and Juskaite drained a 3-pointer to finish the third quarter with Toronto leading 70-56.
–Field Level Media
