Portland Fire guard Bridget Carleton, an Ontario native and two-time Canadian Olympian, drives the lane against the Toronto Tempo on Saturday.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
In the first matchup of the WNBA’s two freshly launched expansion teams, the Toronto Tempo lost 99-80 to the visiting Portland Fire on Saturday night.
It was a second straight loss for the Tempo, who dropped to 3-4 in the first month of their inaugural season. They were fresh off a 100-72 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday.
Toronto and Portland – the 14th and 15th squads to join the WNBA – are likely to be compared all season, by virtue of entering the league at the same time. The Fire, also just a few weeks into their debut WNBA campaign, improved to 3-3 with Saturday’s win.
Marina Mabrey and Kiki Rice led Toronto in scoring, with 19 points apiece. For the WNBA rookie Rice, it matched her career high.
Brittney Sykes had a quieter night for Toronto than in recent games, adding 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting.
The game was tied at halftime and close through three quarters, with the Tempo even leading at times. But in the fourth quarter, the visitors took over, outscoring the home side 33-19.
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The Fire got 16 points from Emily Engstler and 15 from Bridget Carleton, the two-time Canadian Olympian whom they picked first overall in last month’s expansion draft. Carleton, who hit four 3-pointers, was one of five Portland players to score in double digits.
Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said her team didn’t play anywhere near its potential on Saturday.
“Our defense is very average at the moment,” said Brondello. “We’ve got to find solutions for that. … We’ll get there. We’re facing some adversity, and sometimes you need to get slapped in the face to make some change and be better.”
However, Coca-Cola Coliseum was packed again at the Tempo’s third home game, despite a rainstorm drenching Toronto and fans being forced to work around no GO Trains servicing the stadium’s Exhibition station stop this weekend.
It was the Tempo’s first game back at home after their inaugural road trip, a week-long stint in which they went 2-2.
Canada’s WNBA franchise is set to hit the court again Wednesday, in Chicago against the Sky. They’ll be back at home again next Saturday, hosting the Seattle Storm.