WNBA power rankings: How the Toronto Tempo are making a Canadian impact

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’t historically been known for its women’s basketball culture.

It’s 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’t just carved out a home in Toronto; they are working hard to become Canada’s team, setting the record in another province altogether.

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Keep in mind that this is a country that didn’t 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.

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’s 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.

Montreal is just the start. The W should try to meet its fans anywhere and everywhere.

Power rankings

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Toronto Tempo

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’s No. 1 option. Most players struggle with the extra defensive attention and volume, and their efficiency suffers. Mabrey has had no such difficulties.

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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’s also picked up two technical fouls during that stretch — though at just three for the season, the Tempo don’t yet have to worry about losing her to a suspension.

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’s 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’ve 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 — and then a made technical free throw after she was hit by a shoe. She accounted for 6 of the Tempo’s final 8 points.

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’s next seven games come against current playoff teams, so they’d better hope that this was a page-turning win.

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Indiana Fever

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.

Indiana’s 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’s best on-off differential (plus 12.9) while playing the most minutes.

The Fever put the ball in Mitchell’s hands down 1 with essentially one possession left in Phoenix and asked her to create. Even when the Mercury fought through Aliyah Boston’s 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.

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Every announcer hypes up Mitchell as the league’s 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.

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Phoenix Mercury

Maybe it was karmic comeuppance for the Mercury to be blown out on the Aces’ home floor after routing Las Vegas on the defending champions’ 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.

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It’s 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.

The offense has been a particular struggle. Even against three teams ranked eighth, ninth and 11th in defensive rating, the Mercury had the league’s worst offensive rating last week. They haven’t been shooting the ball well — perhaps Sami Whitcomb’s return addresses some of those concerns — and they don’t get offensive rebounds. With Phoenix sitting six losses out of a playoff spot, it’s 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.

Rookie of the week

Justine Pissott, Las Vegas Aces

(Reminder: This isn’t the best rookie of the week, rather a player who caught my eye.)

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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’t until the Aces poached her at the midseason cutdown deadline to replace Chennedy Carter that Pissott finally got her first chance.

That it came in a 48-point blowout shouldn’t diminish the significance of Pissott’s 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’s 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.

And A’ja Wilson got her a lovely Toy Story backpack as part of her rookie initiation in Las Vegas.