In a week of firsts for the Toronto Tempo, Friday brought another – the team’s first away game.
Kicking off their week-long road trip, the Tempo play four games in seven nights, starting with a pair against the LA Sparks, before heading to Phoenix and then to Minnesota before returning home.
Head coach Sandy Brondello said before the team headed out from Toronto that she loves road trips, wants her team to be challenged, and hopes they build resilience. A common theme through the first week of the season has been building chemistry with the team, and being out on the road together for a long stretch of time will only help that process along.
“We have to have a little bit of patience and grace along the journey,” Brondello said before Friday’s game.
That resilience building started right away as the Tempo fell behind by 19 points in the first quarter of Friday’s game. The Sparks kicked off the game with a 21-2 run that made it look like the Tempo were in for a rough night.
“We were sleeping, it was like we were already in bed in Toronto,” Brondello said after the game. “That’s unacceptable. We did nothing we had spoken about.”
Toronto showed fight, playing tough defence to get back into the game. From being down nearly 20 points, the Tempo were hanging on in the fourth quarter, making it a one-possession game. They had a few chances to even it up, but missed shots down the stretch that led to the Sparks pulling away with the 99-95 victory.
“We know we could have won this game,” Nyara Sabally, the team’s current starting forward, said postgame. “We can’t have them start the way they started, that’s a big thing we need to fix next game.”
“I’m really pissed that we lost, but I’m just mad at the way we started,” Brondello said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”
LA’s Kelsey Plum, who was drafted No. 1 overall in 2017 by the San Antonio Stars (now Las Vegas Aces) before moving to the Sparks in 2025, made some tough shots to hold off Toronto’s push, ending the game with 27 points.
Guard Brittney Sykes led the Tempo with 27 points of her own, but really shone on defence. She added seven assists, four steals and four rebounds to her stat line as she led Toronto to a near-comeback. The former WNBA All-Defensive player and steals leader set the tone for Toronto to hold LA below 100 points.
However, it was the Tempo’s bench that truly impressed tonight, outscoring LA’s bench 42-10 in the game. Rookie Laura Juskaite had 16 points, four assists, four steals, and three rebounds, finishing with a +19 net rating despite the loss.
“I think [our bench] is one of our strengths here, and the versatility we have,” Brondello said about her reserves stepping up. “Laura had an amazing game; she just plays so hard.”
With two of the Tempo’s core frontcourt players, Temi Fagbenle and Isabelle Harrison, still out with injury, Brondello isn’t opposed to moving Juskaite or Maria Conde into the starting lineup. She’s deployed three different starting lineups in three games, just trying to figure out what the best option is while the team deals with the injuries.
The Tempo’s starting point guard, Julie Allemand, also left the game in the third quarter with a groin injury and did not return. There is no update on her condition currently.
If Allemand can’t go on Sunday, rookie Kiki Rice could get her first career start. The UCLA grad and recent NCAA champion entered the game off the bench Friday to loud cheers from her home state, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field. Rice continued to look confident on the floor, a continuation from Wednesday’s game against the Seattle Storm.
The Tempo won’t have to wait long to redeem themselves against the Sparks. The two teams will face off against each other for a second time on Sunday, with one day off for the Tempo to address their shortcomings from Friday’s rough start.
“We learned a lot about our team tonight,” Brondello said. “We showed some pride.”
