The Toronto Tempo hosted the Portland Fire in Vancouver for the second leg of their Cross Canada Series on Friday. The start of the game was smashing success for Canada and a nightmare for the Tempo.
Canadian basketball fans in British Columbia were treated to WNBA hoops for the first time since last August. Chatham, Ont. native Bridget Carleton made sure her home crowd got a show, draining a trio of triples in the first five minutes, including a tough look off movement from the top of the floor.
The Tempo quickly fell behind 21-8, and Brittney Sykes exited after only one-and-a-half minutes. Slim lost her footing awkwardly, was called for a loose-ball foul and appeared frustrated before hurriedly jogging down the tunnel. She was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a left foot injury. It was her second game back after missing 18 games with plantar fasciitis in the same foot.
Then in the second quarter, Aneesah Morrow collided with Emily Engstler, went down, grabbed her left knee, and was helped off the court without putting pressure on her leg.
The pair of injuries joined a list that already included Marina Mabrey (adductor), Nyara Sabally (calf), and Maria Conde (calf). The Tempo have missed the most player games due to injury in the W, and that number only continues to grow during a season plagued by poor health.
But the Tempo prevailed. Izzy Harrison fought inside, and Kiki Rice drove relentlessly. Their gutsy play thrust the Tempo to an 82-79 win over the Portland Fire and snapped their WNBA-high 12-game losing streak.
As the Fire rallied late to set up a thrilling finish, Harrison and Rice each made crucial layups to put the Tempo back ahead. Rice’s was a dramatic scoop as she fell to the court, giving Toronto a three-point edge and once again tying her career-high with 19 points. She also hustled to tip out a key late rebound to Julie Allemand, who was fouled for free throws.
The 22-year-old guard shot a hyper-efficient 7-for-9, adding four assists and three boards, and Harrison had a team-high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Rice propelled the Tempo early, maneuvering downhill against her defender and draining a mid-range jumper. She jetted straight down the lane off an inbound for a left-handed finish. The rookie had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting at halftime.
The frontcourt of Harrison and Laura Juskaite also battled the injury-induced adversity valiantly, hustling for boards and aggressively taking the ball right at the Fire defence. They combined to grab 10 rebounds, five apiece, and went a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in the first half.
The Tempo also had strong offensive plays that they didn’t finish. After a quick ball reversal, Kia Nurse made a tight-window pocket pass to Harrison, but she missed the layup. Teonni Key smoked another on a well-timed baseline cut.
Even without their million-dollar backcourt and three key rotation players, the Tempo tied the game at 44 going into halftime on a Harrison layup. She had 12 points, and Juskaite had a team-high 13.
Harrison kept hammering away at the Fire defence, driving, ducking in and drop-stepping to several more buckets. Juskaite drove and finessed a nine-foot floater. And Rice had another great stretch of play. She passed out of a blitz, and Juskaite pinged to Key under the basket for a wide-open layup. The next play, she drove hard in transition off a Harrison block, crossed a defender in the lane and finished a ridiculous switch-handed and-1 layup to give Toronto the lead.
They kept building on it. Harrison caught on a slip and made a read to Ornella Bankole, who banged a 3 to put Toronto up 10. It was her second corner triple on the 16-6 Tempo run. Rice played outstanding on-ball defence against Carleton, forcing her to miss a tough turnaround fade before running out for another skillful, and-1 layup. Up 10 in the fourth quarter, the end of Toronto’s 12-game losing streak was within sight.
But Portland canned three triples in short order and went on a 13-0 run to make it interesting. Two layups from the two stars of the night — Harrison and Rice — put the Tempo back up, and then it was the free-throw game.
Carleton and Engstler both missed tough looks from 3 on the last possession, and the final buzzer sounded. Relief for the Tempo.
They do it all again at Rogers Arena on Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces, only this time with the feeling of a hard-fought win still fresh.
