It’s been a tough stretch for the Toronto Tempo, and after 12 consecutive losses, they have been mathematically eliminated from the WNBA playoffs. The team now sits at 10-25 on the season and will be in the mix for a lottery pick in the 2027 draft.
“I think these are all lessons, they’re not failures,” head coach Sandy Brondello said after losing 93-82 to the Washington Mystics. “They’re lessons as we prepare for the big picture. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to evaluate us at full strength, but we’ve been able to evaluate individual talent.”
The Tempo are the third team to be eliminated from the playoffs, after both the Seattle Storm and the Connecticut Sun. It’s also the first time in Brondello’s 13-year coaching career that she has not made the playoffs with her team.
“It’s about building that strong foundation, isn’t it?” Brondello continued. “Then making sure we have high standards. There are still a lot of areas we need to work on, but it’s really hard when your lineup changes all the time, your rotations change, and a lot of players haven’t played together.”
One of those young players the Tempo have been focusing on developing is Kiki Rice, their first franchise draft pick. Rice missed a stretch of nearly two months in the middle of the season after spraining her ankle, but has been back for the Tempo for a few weeks.
She had a big task tonight on the floor as both Marina Mabrey (hamstring) and Brittney Sykes (foot injury management) were out. Rice was placed into the starting lineup and got to play extended minutes in the city where she spent her childhood and played high school basketball, Washington DC.
“Just to have a lot of family and friends here means a lot,” Rice said after the game. “It’s always really cool to play at home just because this area really shaped me so much. So just grateful for all the support and for DMV basketball.”
Rice finished the game with 19 points, two assists and one steal. Despite not having her vets on the floor with her, they were in her ear on the bench.
“I was sitting with [Sykes] a lot on the bench, she’s just constantly giving me feedback, encouraging me, telling me what I need to do out there,” Rice said. “I really appreciate that because when you’re not on the court, you can see things that you don’t always see. I just appreciate their support, they’ve been very helpful.”
The Tempo will now travel all the way back west to Vancouver ahead of their Cross Canada series game on Friday against the Portland Fire. It’s the first of two “home” games on the west coast for the Tempo. Their last win was in Montreal versus the New York Liberty, so perhaps being in another Canadian city can help the team get back in the win column.
The good news for the Tempo, though, is that the losses also mean something in this stretch. Now that they have been officially eliminated, the team can more officially look ahead to the 2027 WNBA draft lottery. This week, they slid up into second place in the draft odds, now just following Connecticut for the best shot at the No. 1 pick.
Their offseason is now about developing their young stars, solidifying their core, and looking ahead to the lottery pick they will welcome next season.
