Thursday night was a tough one for the Toronto Tempo, as they fell 100-72 to the Minnesota Lynx to finish their road trip. For the first time this season, they lost in a game that wasn’t close by the end.
There has been a lot of learning opportunities for the fledgling franchise on its first four-game stretch on the road.
“[I’ve learned] about our toughness, and just how we keep competing,” Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said before the game on Thursday.
“I think [the road trip] was a good opportunity for us to grow as a team, both on and off the court,” Canadian guard Kia Nurse said after Thursday’s loss. “Being able to build that trust allows us to have more trust in the locker room.”
Minnesota was fueled by an even effort up and down the lineup, despite still missing WNBA All-Star and Olympic Champion Napheesa Collier as she recovers from off-season double ankle surgery. Olivia Miles is already generating Rookie of the Year talk and scored 14 points on 60 per cent shooting from the field against the Tempo. Miles added four rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block to her stat line.
“On a night like tonight, when things aren’t great, being honest and open with one another is really important,” Nurse continued. “We are able to communicate with one another without taking it in a very personal matter.”
The gaps in the Tempo’s roster, especially in the front court, were apparent against the Lynx. Minnesota got out to a 27-14 lead to start the game, and Toronto was never able to recover. The Tempo shot 33.8 per cent from the field and 29.3 per cent from 3-point range compared to Minnesota’s 55.1 per cent from the field and 41.7 per cent from distance, and the Lynx also out-rebounded Toronto 46-25.
“We’re down a lot of players, so we got players playing out of position,” Brondello said before the game. “We just keep believing in what we are doing, keep building chemistry, and everyone is stepping up.”
Brondello said in Toronto last week that being on the road forces the team to spend a lot of time together, and that building chemistry would be a focus of this road trip. That effort has been apparent, especially in the first three games of this West Coast swing.
The Tempo split their trip 2-2, losing the first in Los Angeles and the last in Minnesota while winning a pair in LA and Phoenix. In every contest except Thursday’s against the Lynx, the Tempo showed fight, staying in the game despite injuries.
Going into the trip, Temi Fagbenle and Isabelle Harrison were already out with injuries. The team’s starting point guard, Julie Allemand, was injured in the first game against the Sparks. Nyara Sabally became the team’s third post player to be ruled out this week, with a neck injury.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Brondello gave updates on those injuries, saying that Sabally would be back the soonest: “We just have to go day by day,” Brondello said when describing Sabally’s recovery. “So hopefully she’ll be back, you know, not next game, the game after.”
Brondello added that Fagbenle and Harrison are eyeing a June comeback, while all she could say about Allemand was that she “[doesn’t] think Julie will be the first one back.”
In the wake of these absences, the Tempo converted Nina Milic’s development contract to a hardship contract. Teams are eligible to sign a player to a hardship contract when they fall to just 10 available players on the main roster.
The Tempo’s silver linings were Nurse’s 23-point performance off the bench, with six 3-point shots made, as well as rookie Kiki Rice’s 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Heading back home to Toronto, the Tempo now have one appearance on home court before a lighter week ahead. They will face fellow Canadian Bridget Carleton and the Portland Fire on Saturday, a battle between the 2026 expansion franchises.
The Tempo will shift focus from this loss to look ahead to Saturday’s match.
“[We’ll focus on] getting rest to make sure we are physically prepared,” Rice said after Thursday’s loss. “Coming out with a lot of intensity, and a desire to just go out there and compete.”
“We just want to be the most competitive team, we know what it looks like when we play well,” Brondello said. “All of these things are lessons, not failures; it’s part of the journey to where we want to go.
“This league is tough, every game is difficult, so it’s a great lesson for us,” Brondello continued. “We’re just focused on being the best team we can be … we’re just going to keep holding ourselves to high standards that we personally and collectively have as a team.”
