Laney-Hamilton ejected; Tempo edge Liberty 93-91 — SkimNews
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- Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was ejected with 1:48 remaining after picking up Jonquel Jones's lost shoe and tossing it into Marina Mabrey's back — her second technical foul, following a third-quarter skirmish with Mabrey
- Marina Mabrey converted the technical free throw to make it 91-89 and finished with 30 points; she had scored 34 Friday against Dallas and was recently named to her first All-Star team
- Breanna Stewart tied it at 91 on the next possession, but Nyara Sabally — who played for the Liberty from 2023-25 — hit the go-ahead layup with 52.5 seconds left that sealed Toronto's win
- Toronto Tempo snapped a four-game losing streak to move to 10-13 after nearly collapsing down the stretch: they led by 16 entering the fourth but were outscored 27-13 in the period
- Liberty coach Chris DeMarco and Mabrey both said the shoe toss looked accidental — aimed at returning the sneaker to Jones, not targeting Mabrey — and Sandy Brondello, who coached New York from 2022-25, credited her team's resilience
- The game was played at Montreal's Bell Centre as part of the expansion franchise's push to build a national Canadian fanbase; Friday's 20,996 crowd set a WNBA regular-season attendance record (Sunday drew 12,724)
Why it matters: The win gives the 10-13 expansion Tempo a statement victory in front of a record-setting Montreal crowd and snaps a four-game skid against a Liberty squad that nearly erased a 16-point fourth-quarter lead. For New York, the ejection — and the concession by both their coach and Mabrey that the shoe toss was likely accidental — turns what should have been a comeback story into a footnote.
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