With just four regular-season games remaining on their schedule, the Toronto Tempo hit the court for the first time coming out of the FIBA World Cup as they host Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at Coca-Cola Coliseum Friday night on TSN.
Watch the Tempo host the Fever LIVE at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on TSN4 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.
The Tempo will be without All-Star guard Marina Mabrey for the remainder of the campaign as the team announced Wednesday she has been shut down with an adductor injury that won’t require surgery.
TSN’s Chelsea Leite reported on Thursday that guard Julie Allemand practised but forwards Maria Conde (sick) and Nyara Sabally (treatment) did not.
As of Friday morning, Conde is the only player listed as questionable to play while Allemand and Sabally are both available against Indiana.
The last time the two teams met was Aug. 18 in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena and the Fever pulled away with a 101-95 victory after Kelsey Mitchell scored 29 points and Clark chipped in with 24.
With the Tempo not going to the playoffs and season-ending injuries to Mabrey, Brittney Sykes and Aneesah Morrow, the remaining players will try to end the franchise’s first season on a positive note.
Rice, who missed nearly two months with an ankle injury earlier in the season, has hit double digits in points in 10 of her past 12 games, including a career-high 24 against Seattle on Aug. 26.
Veteran Isabelle Harrison also looks to finish out a career season on a high. The 32-year-old has averaged career highs in points (12.2), rebounds (6.5) and assists (1.7) through 28 games.
The Fever will continue to jockey for playoff seeding as they currently sit fifth in the standings. They are half a game back of the Atlanta Dream for fourth and a game and a half behind the Las Vegas Aces for third place.
Indiana boasts two of the top five scorers in the WNBA in Mitchell and Clark. Mitchell is second behind only A’ja Wilson in points per game, averaging a career-high 25, while Clark is third at 22.5, also a career high for the Iowa native.
