The Toronto Tempo head west to take on the Portland Fire in the first of two games in Vancouver as part of their Cross Canada Series on Friday night.
Toronto will host both Portland and the Las Vegas Aces during their time on the West Coast as they look to put an end to a 12-game skid.
Vancouver was the site of the first-ever WNBA regular-season game played in Canada, with the Seattle Storm narrowly edging out the Atlanta Dream on Aug. 15, 2025.
“I can’t wait for [the Tempo] to experience Vancouver fans,” said Tempo forward Brittney Sykes, who scored 13 points that night as a member of the Storm. “That gym was electric, and we were the away team.”
“I think you turned them into our fans on the back end when I was with Seattle. I mean, they’re just as great as on this side of Canada. It’s beautiful over there.”
“I’m just really excited to come out there. It’s been a long time coming,” team president Teresa Resch said. ”This is part of the initial plan of being Canada’s team, playing from coast to coast … So really excited to bring the team out there.”
“We plan to hit up all parts of Canada, and we can’t wait to see the fan base. We look forward to learning more about our fans. That will then dictate a little bit where we go next. And maybe Vancouver will show us such a great time that we’ll have to make sure we come back and make sure that they’re on this schedule for next year.”
The Vancouver trip is the final leg of the Tempo’s Cross Canada Series, which also saw a pair of games hosted in Montreal last month.
During their stay in Montreal, the Tempo set the WNBA regular-season attendance record during their July 10 loss to the Dallas Wings with 20,996 fans packing into the Bell Centre.
“I was sad I couldn’t play Montreal, said rookie guard Kiki Rice, who was forced out of both games with an ankle sprain. “It was a really crazy environment, really fun.
“I’ve heard a ton of incredible things about Vancouver, and so I’m just excited to get out there. I heard it’s very pretty, and we’ll have a few days, so I’ll get to see a little bit of that part of the country.”
Rice scored a team-high 19 points in Toronto’s loss to Washington on Wednesday night and is once again expected to feature heavily for head coach Sandy Brondello with all-star Marina Mabrey set to be sidelined for the contest alongside forwards Maria Conde and Nyara Sabally.
The focus for the remainder of the season will now shift to Rice’s development at the pro level with the Tempo having been officially eliminated from playoff contention following the loss to the Mystics.
The sixth-overall pick out of UCLA has averaged 11.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 47.7 per cent shooting in 19 games over the course of her rookie campaign.
Following Toronto’s two games in Vancouver, the team will head out on a three-game road trip against the Storm, Aces, and Phoenix Mercury to close out the month of August.
