The Toronto Tempo are now 0-3 against the Atlanta Dream this season after a 111-92 loss at home Friday night. In a physical game, the Dream ran away with it in the second half, with all five Atlanta starters in double-digit scoring.
“I mean, we were still in the locker room to start the third,” head coach Sandy Brondello said after the game. “We were just not locked in and not very intentional.”
The Tempo were only down one point, 48-47, going into halftime, but a 29-19 third quarter for the Dream set the Tempo a little too far back to recover.
“They got some easy baskets, and then we lose our focus a little bit, so that’s the disappointing part,” Brondello said. “I thought we had a really good first half, but the second half, we were just scrambling.”
It was also an incredibly physical game, something Brondello was frustrated by in postgame media.
“We got to the foul line 25 times, but it should have been way more than that,” she said. “I think Marina had hands on her all night, but no foul was called.”
Despite the frustration with the officiating and the attention being put on her, Mabrey still led the Tempo with 26 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. The next highest scorer was Maria Conde with 13 points.
The physicality of the game also resulted in Nyara Sabally going down after contact with Angel Reese near the end of the game. Sabally was attended to by medical staff on the court before being helped back to the locker room. She did not return to the game.
“That was a hard hit, she’s not feeling great at the moment,” Brondello said of Sabally’s condition. “She’s hurt a rib, so we don’t know what that is at the moment.
She’s doing so well for us, and hopefully it’s nothing too serious.”
This was Sabally’s third game back after returning to the lineup last Sunday in Montreal. She’s played in 18 of the Tempo’s 25 games, some on minutes restrictions, this season.
Friday’s game was also the return of Temi Fagbenle to the Tempo lineup after the centre missed five games due to a concussion she suffered in practice. Fagbenle has only played nine of the Tempo’s games this season due to a shoulder injury she suffered in the season opener.
“I think the more minutes she plays, the better, we just got to get her back up to speed with some of the stuff we’re running,” Brondello said of Fagbenle’s return. “She hasn’t played for quite some time, but it’s always good to have her out there.”
Sabally sustaining another injury would only prolong the Tempo’s continuing injury woes. Kiki Rice (ankle sprain) and Brittney Sykes (foot) will remain out of the lineup at least until after the All-Star break, and now Sabally going out is a hard blow to the team – who haven’t had a clear injury report all season.
To address some of the roster gaps, Kayla Alexander was signed to a second 7-day hardship contract on Thursday.
The Toronto Tempo have now lost six of their last seven games. Their next three games are against the WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, followed by two straight games against the hot Minnesota Lynx. The Tempo lost 100-72 in their first game against the Lynx, but this will be their first game of the season against A’ja Wilson and the Aces.
The upcoming All-Star break couldn’t come sooner for a team that has played six games in the last 13 days.
“I think we try and force things,” Brondello said. “We want to try and get the point spread back closer, and instead of just staying calm and playing together, I think we try and force the action.”
“We’ve got to be tougher.”
