The Toronto Tempo played their first game at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, excited to carry on the momentum from Marina Mabrey’s 53-point game on Thursday. They ended up having to carry on without their record-tying scorer, though, as Mabrey was a last-minute scratch due to a neck injury.
“I didn’t know until right before the game,” head coach Sandy Brondello said after the Tempo’s 89-80 loss against Phoenix. “She warmed up, and then she said [she didn’t think she could] go right now, and then they ruled her out.”
“That was hard, because you can’t really plan, you’re planning on the fly, and rotations change a little bit.”
Mabrey seemed to tweak her neck in warm-ups, leaving her on the bench for Saturday’s game. Joining her on the injury report were Kiki Rice, who is still out with an ankle sprain, and Brittney Sykes with a foot injury.
“Hopefully Marina is fine, and we come back and get ready,” Brondello said. “We’ve got some tough days, but we’re going to embrace them and see where we’re at.”
Despite Mabrey’s absence, the Tempo kept the game close for the majority. Phoenix was also missing one of their stars in Alyssa Thomas, who was out serving a one-game suspension for an incident that occurred on the court earlier in the week.
In the end, the Tempo were unable to close out the game, falling to 9-10 on their season.
“There’s things we could have done better, of course, but we were down a lot of key players, unfortunately,” Brondello said.
“Obviously, we don’t like losing, but we can still fight till the end, and we can come back and say, ‘Okay, what do we need to do better, individually and collectively?’”
Missing their two leading scorers in Sykes and Mabrey, the Tempo had to rely on their bench more. Tima Pouye, who the Tempo signed out of France last month, scored a season-high 13 points.
“Yeah, I’m just taking my chance,” Pouye said of her performance. “I know my strength. I just want to help the team in the good way.”
The Tempo’s leading scorer of the day was Nyara Sabally with 14 points, and Julie Allemand scored 11 points with 10 assists, her second consecutive double-double. Kia Nurse stepped up to start for Marina Mabrey and scored 12 points.
“I think she’s done well for us these last few games,” Brondello said of Nurse, the team’s captain. “She made the opening basket as well, too. So I think it was a logical decision.”
The Tempo’s next game is Sunday, July 5 back at Coca-Cola Coliseum, against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. Their debut appearance at Scotiabank Arena drew over 15,000 fans for the team’s Pride game celebrations.
“We wanted to win that game, it was a big moment for us,” Allemand said of playing at Scotiabank. “For everybody here, for Canada, but the atmosphere was nice. It was really great to play out there, it was just different. It looks bigger [from the court].”
The Tempo will have another chance to break their season attendance record in two weeks, when the team plays two games at Montreal’s Bell Centre. For now, though, the team is focusing on rest and recovery before their homestand continues into July.
The entire team will have the next week off, as the WNBA takes a break for the Commissioner’s Cup Final between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday. Brondello says the team will have a few days completely off, no practice, to rest and reset.
“These players, they’re going all year round,” Brondello said. “You can be physically tired, but I think a little bit of mental fatigue gets in there. So you take these opportunities where you can. I thought it was a perfect pocket to give them those days off.
“Freshen up mentally, physically, and then come back and be ready and have that excitement. We all love playing basketball, so let’s get out, get back, and get together and continue to grow as a team.”
