TORONTO — The Toronto Tempo were hampered by injuries on Saturday, and one in particular.
Toronto star Marina Mabrey was coming off an WNBA record-tying 53-point performance in a 125-97 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday. She was supposed to start against the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Saturday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena but was a late scratch when she experienced muscle spasms in her neck during warmups.
Mabrey, who’s tied for fourth in the league at 21.2 points per game, was replaced by Hamitlon native Kia Nurse as the Tempo fell to the Mercury 89-80. Nurse picked up 12 points.
“That was hard,” said Sandy Brondello, of Mabrey’s scratch. “You’re playing on the fly and the rotation’s changed a little bit.”
In a game that saw the lead change 11 times, the Tempo went into the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, but ran out of gas.
Brondello acknowledged that with injuries to other key starters – star Brittney Sykes and heralded rookie guard Kiki Rice -- the Tempo were dealing with some fatigue in the fourth quarter.
However, they don’t play again until July 5 when they host the Dallas Wings back at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
“You take these opportunities when you can,” said Brondello, of the break. “(We have to) freshen up, mentally, physically and then come back and be ready.”
Shooting guard Tima Pouye came off the bench for Toronto and gave her team a nice shot in the arm, scoring 13 points with four assists, a steal and two rebounds.
While the Tempo (9-10) dropped to below .500 with the loss, the team played hard to the end and shared the ball well with 26 assists on 31 field goal makes. All five starters recorded double-digit points in the loss.
Some of the Toronto players expressed disappointment that they weren’t able to get a victory over a struggling Mercury team (7-13) in front of a loud and enthusiastic crowd of 15,687 at Scotiabank Arena.
Guard Julie Allemand picked up a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists and also had seven boards for the Tempo.
“She does an amazing job. She had the double-double, but she’s playing defence as well and she’s the ultimate competitor,” said Brondello of Allemand. “She gave everything she had tonight.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2026.
Steve Buffery, The Canadian Press
