In their final game of a week-long road trip, the Toronto Tempo struggled to make up for a slow start against the Atlanta Dream.
After losing the first quarter 33-15, Toronto won or tied the remaining three frames, but couldn’t complete the comeback, losing 94-87.
“We’re very disappointed with how we played in that first quarter,” head coach Sandy Brondello said in Atlanta after the game. “This is a really good team, and we didn’t make them feel uncomfortable at all.
“In the second half, at least we found some pride there. Still not perfect, but we found we got playing a little bit better.”
Atlanta and Toronto played each other just over a week ago in Toronto, with Atlanta winning that game by a much larger margin. On this night, Toronto was able to make up for a 20+ point deficit and bring the game back within 10 points in the fourth quarter. It almost looked like they were going to pull off the heroics for the second game in a row, after coming back to win in Connecticut last Friday.
In that first game against the Dream, forward Isabelle Harrison was ejected in the third quarter after scoring 17 points. On Monday in Atlanta, Harrison scored 21 points with 10 rebounds, the first double-double in Toronto Tempo history.
“Obviously, I can look for my shots when I can, but bringing leadership and vocality is the biggest thing,” Harrison said. “Our last game, I feel like we were in such high spirits… maybe we let fatigue set in this game.”
Harrison also added two assists, one block and one steal to her stat line on Monday.
Leading the Tempo in points for the night, though, was guard Marina Mabrey. Mabrey had 23 points, four rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
“We didn’t execute our game plan whatsoever. If you’re going to do that against a team like Atlanta, you’re going to get beat pretty badly,” Mabrey said. “Honestly, we didn’t get beat that badly because we won the last three quarters, but it’s disappointing to play like that.
“You work so hard in those next three quarters, try to come back and stuff, and in the end you’re going to come up short because it’s hard to come back on a team like that.”
The Dream are currently third in the overall WNBA standings, trying to make a deep playoff run after being eliminated in the first round last season. Before the 2026 season, they made a trade to add All-Star Angel Reese to their roster.
The Tempo held Reese to 11 points and nine rebounds Monday night, and she nearly fouled out of the game. But Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard combined for 38 points, and rookie centre Madina Okot scored 18 points off the bench in 18 minutes played.
“It’s the end of a really long road trip, so obviously fatigue and all that has probably been at its max,” Harrison said of the Tempo’s showing on Monday. “Try not to think about that and try to just push through, because I know we’re kind of limited still right now in our post position.”
The Tempo were able to get back Nyara Sabally against Atlanta, after the centre missed the previous four games with a hamstring injury. It was the first game of the season where Harrison, Sabally, and Temi Fagbenle were all available at the same time, though the latter two were on minutes restrictions.
Sabally started for the Tempo and played 18 total minutes in the game, scoring nine points. Fagbenle came off the bench to play 14 minutes, recording 10 points.
“Personally as one of the leaders, I need to figure out a way to help us come out ready to play,” Mabrey said. “Then also everyone else in that starting lineup, we got to come out and just be ready to play.”
After being on the road this week playing Indiana – where guard Brittney Sykes suffered a foot injury that will keep her out for a stretch – as well as Connecticut and Atlanta, the Tempo will head home.
Thursday’s game against the LA Sparks kicks off a nine-game homestand that will last through most of July and take the team to Montreal.
“No travelling for a minute,” Harrison said about the extended stretch at home. “It wears on you, it definitely does. We love being at home and playing in front of our crowd, so that’ll be a plus.
“I’m just looking forward to just really being able to tailor what we need to do, practise as much as we can, and be ready to face really good teams. I think the main thing I just want to continue to bring is the toughness and the defensive side.”
With this loss, the Tempo are now at 8-9 in their inaugural season.
