Kiki Rice did it all on Wednesday.
The first-year guard aggressively drove the rim, swished pull-ups and even did dirty work on the glass en route to a career-high 24 points in a 90-78 loss to the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena.
It was the rookie show, and Rice took centre stage. The 22-year-old guard had an absurd sequence where she worked for an and-1 putback, drilled a pull-up 3, then attacked a closeout for a clean left-handed layup. It was eight points in 43 seconds for Rice.
Fellow 2026 first-rounder Flau’jae Johnson pushed back, banging a 3 to give the Storm a one-point lead and force a Tempo timeout late in the second quarter. Johnson entered play third in rookie scoring with 13.8 points per game, with Rice fourth at 12. But Rice outclassed her fellow first-year guard.
She attacked a closeout with a shifty stutter rip, drove, drew the big, and made a lay-down pass to Teonni Key for an open layup. I wrote about playmaking teammates to the rim being Rice’s next step as point guard, and she took it on Wednesday night. Rice had 14 points in the first half, culminating in an underhanded scoop layup through traffic high off the glass.
Later Rice beat her defender with another crafty in-and-out dribble and found Temi Fagbenle for a quality look at the rim. But the game stayed tight throughout as Seattle was buoyed by Johnson’s scoring. She led the Storm with 20 points on 15 shots.
Still, Rice was superlative, needing only 12 shots for her game-high 24 while adding five assists with just one turnover. She had scored her previous career high of 19 points four times this season before finally hitting 20.
The Tempo played grimy hoops in the first quarter. They led 7-2 in offensive rebounds but somehow trailed 5-3 in second-chance points. Toronto also shot 1-for-12 (or 8.3%) from 3. Jade Melbourne diced up the Tempo with seven early points, punctuated by a deep 3 and a layup with some English off the glass. But Kiki Rice hit ahead to Laura Juskaite off the Melbourne 3 for a quick make, then the Lithuanian forward canned a triple the next trip down.
Toronto’s frontcourt kept the game within arm’s reach as Isabelle Harrison banged down low for a post-up bucket and her and Juskaite drove hard for layups. The duo had nine points apiece at half, with Harrison grabbing eight boards and Juskaite adding four.
Toronto struggled to take care of the ball, committing 14 turnovers by the start of the fourth. It came to a head as Kiana Williams made an ill-advised pass and Awa Fam knocked down a triple going the other way amid a four-minute stretch without a field goal for the Tempo. The Tempo recently signed Williams to a seven-day extreme hardship contract that was granted by the WNBA after it was announced that Brittney Sykes and Aneesah Morrow would miss the rest of the season.
The Tempo were also plus-seven on the glass and plus-four in points in the paint entering the final frame. Harrison was particularly forceful battling with six-foot-six centre Dominique Malonga, grabbing a career-high 14 boards. She also had 17 points, albeit on 5-for-16 shooting.
The Zia Cooke-Melbourne backcourt shredded Toronto late, getting to the hoop at will and creating quality looks for teammates. And Johnson had the last laugh in the rookie duel, dropping in a deep 2 from the corner and blowing a kiss to the home crowd in the final minute.
Meanwhile, the Tempo saw changes to the availability of their European contingent as Maria Conde returned to action after missing five games with a calf injury, but Julie Allemand’s contract was suspended while she joins Belgium for the FIBA World Cup.
Their road trip continues with a back-to-back against the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury on Friday and Saturday.
