The Toronto Tempo continue their road trip Tuesday night as they aim to snap a six-game losing streak with a rematch against the Golden State Valkyries.
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The Tempo kicked off their longest road trip of the season with a 96-79 loss to Golden State Sunday night behind 24 points from sharpshooter Janelle Salaun off the bench. The loss continued a rough stretch for the expansion Tempo, who have now dropped 11 of their past 13 and now sit second last in the Eastern Conference.
However, head coach Sandy Brondello said the Tempo’s game against Golden State (20-9) showed some improvement.
“After a really tough loss in the last game, I was happy with our effort and our resiliency,” Brondello said via TSN’s Chelsea Leite after the game.
The game before, Toronto was blown out by 32 points on homecourt against the Minnesota Lynx, an effort Brondello referred to as “embarrassing.”
The Tempo’s inaugural season has been ravaged by injuries and they are expected to once again be without leading scorer Marina Mabrey in their back-to-back against the Valkyries. Mabrey was previously ruled out of Toronto’s first two games of the trip with a neck injury.
“It’s my 27th year in this league, and I’ve never experienced anything quite like this,” Brondello said of the team’s injuries.
But they might have some help on the way.
The Tempo acquired forward Aneesah Morrow in a trade with the Connecticut Sun prior to last week’s trade deadline and the team is hoping she can give them a much-needed boost to their frontcourt. The 23-year-old is averaging 11.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in 20 games prior to the trade.
She is listed as probable for Tuesday’s clash.
Rookie Kiki Rice missed more than a month with an ankle sprain from early June to late July. Rice was one of the bright spots for the Tempo in Sunday’s loss, scoring 16 points on 50 per cent shooting.
“Just getting my wind back... I know it’s a process, and I just got to continue to stack games,” she said Sunday.
Rice was selected as the Tempo’s first draft pick, going No. 6 overall out of UCLA. She is averaging 11.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 13 games for the Tempo this season.
After their matchup against the Valkyries, Toronto will continue their road trip against the Fire in Portland.
