Bueckers scores 34 as Wings beat Tempo in record Montreal crowd

Paige Bueckers scored 34 points and the Dallas Wings beat the Toronto Tempo 108-95 before a WNBA regular-season record crowd of 20,996 at Montreal’s Bell Centre, a stage that turned the league’s first regular-season game in the city into a test of how far women’s basketball can travel beyond its U.S. base.

The attendance surpassed the previous regular-season mark of 20,711, set by the Washington Mystics at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19, 2024, against Indiana. It also added another major number to the Bell Centre’s growing resume in women’s pro sports: the building had already hosted 21,105 fans for PWHL Montreal on April 20, after that crowd sold out in minutes.

The game itself had the feel of a showcase for both clubs. Jessica Shepard finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds for Dallas, and Arike Ogunbowale added 20 points. Toronto got 34 points from Marina Mabrey and 25 from Laura Juskaite, but the result was only part of the night’s significance for the expansion franchise, which is Canada’s lone WNBA team. Coach Sandy Brondello said the club had a responsibility to celebrate the league with its new Canadian fan base.

The Tempo’s broader schedule points to a deliberate national strategy rather than a one-off appearance. Toronto’s inaugural 2026 season began May 8 at Coca-Cola Coliseum, and the club announced March 20 that single-game tickets for select games in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto were on sale. The Tempo are scheduled to play another game in Montreal and two in Vancouver, extending the franchise’s reach across Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

The team’s official site has described the Montreal game as a milestone for women’s basketball in Canada and part of its “Canada’s Team” vision. Saturday’s turnout gave that ambition a hard number to point to, and showed that Paige Bueckers and a marquee regular-season event can still fill a major arena when the league brings the game to a market built for it.