It was a homecoming for many members of the Toronto Tempo Wednesday night as the team travelled to Brooklyn to face the New York Liberty. In head coach Sandy Brondello’s first game back at Barclay’s Center since she parted ways with the Liberty after the 2025 season, the Tempo lost 97-82.
“Coming back, obviously it was nice,” Brondello said after the game. “Everyone moves around this league, don’t they? Going to back to an old team, to get the appreciation that we did, that’s always special.
“The fans here have always been amazing,” Brondello continued. “It’s a special group here, and yeah, something that we’ll remember, definitely.”
“Similar to what Sandy said, it’s always special,” said Tempo centre Nyara Sabally, who the Liberty drafted in 2022. “I mean, I feel like we both had a great time here, amazing fans, and it’s always nice to be in New York.”
Apart from Brondello and Sabally, it was also a return to Brooklyn for Isabelle Harrison, who is still out with injury and did not play. Assistant coaches Olaf Lange and Brian Lankton also served on Brondello’s Liberty coaching staff before coming with her to Toronto.
After winning the first quarter 20-17, the Tempo went into the halftime break down six points to the Liberty. From there, the Liberty’s precise three-point shooting allowed them to gain a double-digit lead that they kept for the remainder of the game.
“You can’t let teams do the thing that they can do, and shoot three-point shots,” said Tempo guard Marina Mabrey, who won the WNBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week award this week.
The Liberty made 14 three-pointers in comparison to the Tempo’s six, even while missing their sharpshooter, Sabrina Ionescu. Ionescu has been in and out of the lineup with injury so far this season, and missed Wednesday’s game with a back injury.
Toronto struggled to defend the perimeter, and that mixed with the Liberty’s versatility allowed even their post players to feast from distance. While Toronto tried to slow them down in the paint, the Liberty were able to draw fouls and 17 free throws as opposed to Toronto’s eight.
“I still think there’s such another level that we need to go defensively,” Brondello said. “We gave up too many open threes.
“We’re still learning, some of these players are still learning the players, and they shot the three-ball really great,” she continued. “So just a little attention to detail that we can work on as we move forward.”
Their star of the night, though, was 2021 WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones. New York’s floor-spacing centre scored 17 points in the first half and finished the game with 22 points on 4-for-7 shooting from distance and 9-for-14 shooting from the field.
“[Jones] is a great player,” Brondello said. “She’s best when she’s making threes, and then can get down low and finish.”
“We didn’t execute the scout as much as we wanted to. I think she just had a really good game. I mean, she didn’t score as much [in the second half], but the others were scoring, so she was just doing her job out there.”
The Tempo’s lack of size was apparent as Jones and forward Breanna Stewart, who scored 19 points of her own, dominated. While Tempo forward Isabelle Harrison has started ramping up in anticipation of her return from a thumb dislocation, she was not ready to play in New York. Centre Temi Fagbenle is also still out after injuring her shoulder in the Tempo’s home opener.
With Harrison on her way back, the Tempo might have another addition to their injury report. Rookie guard Kiki Rice was injured on an awkward fall driving to the basket late in the game. It appeared to be her left ankle, and she was helped off the floor and to the locker room.
“No update on Kiki, hopefully she’s okay,” Brondello said. “She’s a tough kid, but yeah, unfortunate.”
This was the Tempo’s first franchise match against the Liberty, and also their first Commissioner’s Cup game. The in-season tournament runs through June 17, and each team will play six games to determine a top team from the East and West conferences.
As part of the tournament, each team picks a local charity to support, and the Tempo are donating to Lay-Up Basketball. They will contribute $3,000 USD for every win and $1,000 USD for every loss, with additional money to be awarded if the Tempo make it to the Final.
With this loss, the Tempo are now 0-1 in the Commissioner’s Cup tournament and will face the Chicago Sky at home on Sunday. The Tempo won against the Sky last week on the road, and Sunday’s game is the first of two consecutive home games for Toronto.
