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  • Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – August 19, 2026

    Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – August 19, 2026

    The Toronto Tempo have officially missed the playoffs and extend their losing streak to 12 games after falling 93-82 to the Washington Mystics on Wednesday August 19th.

    Playing on the second night of a back-to-back and missing four key players in Mabrey, Conde, Sabally and Sykes, the Tempo still managed to keep things competitive for most of the night.

    We break down the good, bad, and outlook from this game.

    The Good

    Playing back-to-back games is rough, especially while missing four key players, but the team stepped up and came out strong against the Mystics. Toronto kept the game close in the first quarter, trailing by only one after 10 minutes.

    Kiki Rice showed some serious hustle, tying her career high with 19 points while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. She was attacking the paint, finishing through contact and generally looking more confident out there.

    It felt like she had some serious Slim vibes going on, and she commented in the presser, “I was sitting next to Slim a lot on the bench, so she’s just constantly giving me feedback, encouraging me, telling me what I need to do out there.”

    Morrow finished with 13 points and eight rebounds despite being limited by early foul trouble. I am loving what she brings to the team. She upped the physicality to the level expected from the Mystics and didn’t back down.

    There were some decent team numbers as well. The Tempo shot 40.7% from three and committed only eight turnovers. Ignoring the second quarter (which is admittedly doing a lot of work here) they played a pretty solid game despite being so shorthanded.

    The Bad

    Unfortunately, we can’t actually ignore the second quarter.

    The Tempo scored only nine points, the lowest-scoring quarter in franchise history. A one-point game after the first suddenly became a 14-point deficit at halftime.

    The other big issue was rebounding. Washington outrebounded Toronto 43-27 and absolutely crushed them in second-chance points, 23-7. With Sabally and Conde both out, the lack of size was pretty obvious.

    Morrow brought some of the physicality we needed, but getting into foul trouble early limited her minutes at a time when the team desperately needed her on the floor.

    And of course, the losing streak has now reached 12 games and the Tempo have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.

    The Outlook

    Missing the playoffs is disappointing, but not unexpected. Not every expansion team is going to come out as strong as the Valkyries did last season, and that’s ok.

    At this point, we need to focus on the team’s development and health. Rice continues to look like a huge part of the team’s future, and I really like what we’ve seen from Morrow since she arrived.

    Next up, the Tempo head to Vancouver as part of the team’s Cross-Canada Series to host Portland. Toronto is 0-2 against the Fire this season, so hopefully the energy in Rogers Arena can help them finally grab their first win against their fellow expansion team.

    Based on the games in Montreal and the general hype for the Tempo across Canada, expect this one to be packed!

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  • Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – July 14, 2026

    Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – July 14, 2026

    The Washington Mystics defeated the Toronto Tempo on Tuesday, holding them to their lowest scoring game in franchise history 79-62. Temi Fagbenle, Kiki Rice, and Brittany Sykes continue to be out with injury, while the Mystics rocked a full roster with more bigs than they know what to do with.

    Here is the Good, Bad, and Outlook from this game.

    The Good

    The Tempo finished the first half up 32-26 and led the game for nearly the entire time. Neither team was shooting well from range; halfway through the second quarter, the Tempo were 1-9 for three, and the Mystics 1-10! Due to some extremely tight defense, Mabrey was only able to get a few shots up, and most of them from deep.

    Julie Allemand had a great game, sinking shots from everywhere. It’s great to see her step up when the rest of the team is struggling. She led the Tempo in scoring with 15 points, shooting 50% from 3!

    Kayla Alexander (currently on hardship contract) put in some solid minutes, mostly contributing to defense. Sandy said “she did as good as she could”, coming away with 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 assist with just over 12 minutes on the court. I know those aren’t huge numbers, but it always makes me happy seeing another Canadian on the floor!

    The Bad

    Washington out-scored, out-rebounded, and out-played Toronto in the second half. The Tempo’s wheels came off and there was no real path to recovery.

    The Tempo continue to struggle with physicality in the paint. As seen in our previous game against the Mystics, they once again exposed our lack of frontcourt size. The Mystics out-rebounded 47-26 holding us to only 5 offensive rebounds for the entire game! FIVE!?

    At times it has felt like we have enough bigs with Sabally, Izzy, and (to a point) Juškaitė; but this game really showed how much of a gap there is. Kiki, Betts, and Shakira shut us down in a big way. Having Washington block our offer to Shakira back in April really stings when looking at a loss like this.

    Mabrey was getting locked down with tight defense all game and wasn’t able to find ways to scrore. The team just couldn’t move the ball and the physicality was visibly taking on a toll on morale. There weren’t any full crash-outs, just a slow melt-down.

    I could go on and on about bad things, but as Julie pointed out post-game, “it’s easier to find bad stuff to say about us today because we really weren’t playing well”.

    The Outlook

    This was a bad game for the Tempo. Let’s put it behind us and trust that Sandy and her team have plans to rectify. Wait, I’m having deja-vu; have I said this before? Regardless, I still trust Sandy!

    Atlanta is up next and they are similar to the Mystics in their paint presence. Sandy put it nicely, “we have to prepare to put up a little bit more resistance next game”. Hopefully that is resistance that doesn’t involve a flagrant two.

    Temi Fagebenle is listed as probable, so fingers crossed that she is feeling good and could possibly put in some limited minutes. Her presence would be appreciated in what is sure to be a very physical game against Atlanta.

    If the Tempo are going to pull out a W, they need to get fierce on the boards, move the ball, and get back to our transition offense. If not, it could be a rough few games, considering we are coming up against Minnesota, Las Vegas, and Golden State; the top 3 teams in the league. 😬

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  • Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – June 12, 2026

    Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – June 12, 2026

    Thanks to an amazing buzzer beater by Sonia Citron, the Toronto Tempo fell 86-85 to the Washington Mystics despite a heroic second half performance by Marina Mabrey.

    We break down the good, bad, and outlook from this game.

    The Good

    The story of this game really began in the third quarter. The Tempo had played a less-than-average but still competitive game up until that point; however, at the start of the 3rd quarter, the Tempo started to lose their focus and composure. The Mystics took full advantage of all the Tempo’s poor shots and turnovers, increasing their lead from 3 to 17 points.

    Credit also goes to Coach Sandy Brondello and her decision to pull the lineup with most of our starters with 3:32 left in the 3rd quarter and inserted Tima Pouye, Julie Allemand, Laura Juškaitė to play alongside Izzy and Maria Conde (or as we affectionately call the Euros and Izzy). The Tempo were down by 18 at that point and this lineup showcased ball movement, crisp and multiple passes, and a more fluid offense.

    While we cannot credit this lineup with the Tempo’s comeback, it did shrink the lead to 11 and the lineup battled hard to shift the energy of this game.

    Then, with 6 minutes left in the 4th, Marina Mabrey checked back in and, if you haven’t seen the highlights, you must. She went into God-mode and scored 13 points in just under 3 minutes (including three 3-pointers) to shave the Mystics’ lead from 13 to 3. With thirty seconds to go, she hit yet another 3 pointer making this unlikely comeback suddenly a possibility.

    With 17.7 seconds left, the Tempo – down by 1 – drew up a play where Slim drove using a screen all the way to the basket for an easy layup for the Tempo to go up by 1 with 11 seconds left. Could she have held it longer for the last shot? Sure. But, when you are that open, you take the points and let your defense win you the game. Ultimately, it was the right decision.

    Unfortunately, for the Tempo, Sonia Citron – who did not have a great offensive night – hit a fadeaway buzzer beater to win it for the Mystics.

    The Bad

    As inspired as we were by Mabrey’s epic performance in the 4th quarter, we have to be honest: the Tempo had no business winning this game. Similar to the Sun, the Mystics exposed the Tempo’s lack of frontcourt size and either dumped it into the post for Lauren Betts to use her size and impeccable footwork to score easily or they would kick it out to Onyenwere or Dugalic and they would attack the Tempo defender’s closeouts for a clear lane to the basket or muscle their way to the basket.

    The Mystics have not been shooting the 3-ball well this season (even Sonia Citron is just shooting 32% from 3) and they shot just 11% from 3 in this game, but the Tempo were still not able to defend the paint well. Overall, the Mystics outscored the Tempo 54-40 points in the paint.

    Similar to the Sun game, the Mystics also outrebounded the Tempo by a large margin, including ten more offensive rebounds – a recurring issue for the Tempo defense.

    The Outlook

    Next up for the Tempo is the Atlanta Dream. If we thought giving up offensive rebounds was an issue against both Connecticut and Washington, get ready for Angel Reese who leads the league in both defensive and offensive rebounds.  

    Atlanta is currently 8 – 4 in the season and fourth in the standings. They feature Reese in the front court, sharpshooters Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard in the back court, last season’s sixth player of the year award winner Naz Hillmon, and dynamic point guards in Jordin Canada and Te’hina Pao Pao.

    In short, this game won’t be easy. The hope is that Nyara Sabally will be able to return to the lineup and we can finally get a glimpse of the Tempo’s frontcourt together in action now that Temi Fagbenle is back in action. Even if Sabally can return, the Tempo will have to play their best ball to keep up with the Dream.

  • Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – May 8, 2026

    Tempo vs Mystics Game Report – May 8, 2026

    The inaugural game for the Toronto Tempo is now in the books. The excitement and energy inside the Coca Cola Coliseum was electric. The arena was sold out. The fans, Toronto, and Canada at large showed out. 

    The Tempo themselves? That was more of a mixed bag. 

    Unfortunately, the Tempo dropped their inaugural game in entertaining and close fashion to the Washington Mystics, 68-65. 

    Here is the Good, the Bad, and the Future outlook following the game.

    The Good

    In the 3rd quarter, Marina Mabrey was tantalizing and momentum-swinging, but the unsung hero of the game might be Nyara Sabally. 

    Sabally had three steals but appeared to actually have had 4 or 5 plays where she picked the pocket at the point of attack for fast break layups. Fans of the New York Liberty may have gotten flashbacks to Nyara’s championship game OT steal against the Lynx. 

    The Julie Allemand to Sabally pick and roll in the first quarter was also a thing of beauty!

    The Tempo’s defensive energy was admirable across the team. We saw deflections; we saw steals; we saw them force 18 Mystics turnovers, leading to 18 points for the Tempo. We want to see more of that energy throughout the season. 

    The Bad

    As one might have expected, the offensive connectivity simply was not there. The Tempo forced shots instead of making the extra pass. Where the extra pass was made, we caught glimpses of how effective and pretty basketball can be.

    In the 4th quarter, the team curiously went away from having Allemand run the offense even though she had proven to be successful in that role during the other quarters.

    As a result, the team shot a poor 27% from the field. 

    The nerves of game 1 and a short training camp for a completely brand new team might also explain this poor shooting, so we’ll give them a pass on that for now.

    Finally, this game also saw Shakira Austin who has clearly improved her game since last season playing for the opposing team. She drove to the paint with speed, force, and control. Austin showed her improved footwork and patience in a variety of spins and layups. While it was out of Toronto’s control, not being able to get Austin in the offseason hurt us in game 1 and might hurt us even more in the future. 

    The Future

    The Mystics didn’t play particularly well. They could have exposed Toronto’s lack of size in the frontcourt by dumping the ball into the paint even more often and/or playing more inside-out game, dumping the ball into Austin or Iriafen to collapse the defense then kick it out to open shooters for clean shots. The Tempo will have to expect the Mystics to play better the next time they meet. 

    The lack of depth amongst our bigs could turn out to be a season-long issue. 

    In game 1, Nyara went out for a chunk of time and Temi didn’t play at all in the 4th because of a shoulder issue. Juskaite tried admirably to fill in but the competition is going to get tougher. 

    On Wednesday, the Tempo will take on the Seattle Storm. Luckily, for Toronto, Awa Fam (overseas commitment) and Ezi MagBegor (injury) are slated to still be out of the lineup, so Seattle’s size advantage will be reduced. However, the Tempo will need to try and limit Dominique Malonga from singlehandedly dominating the game. On the perimeter, look for Brittney Sykes and Kiki Rice to contain the strong scoring production the Storm have seen from all their guards, including Zia Cooke, Lexie Brown, Jade Melbourne, Natisha Hiedeman, and Flau’Jae Johnson. If they do, we might have a chance to see the Tempo get their first win of the season.