TORONTO — The Toronto Tempo’s nine-game homestand ended on a sour note, with a 109-83 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Monday.
Taking on the defending champs is never an easy task, especially when they entered Coca-Coliseum riding a 7-3 record over their last 10 games.
Associate head coach Olaf Lange, in filling in for Sandy Brondello as she served a one-game suspension, didn’t sugar-coat the challenge that lied ahead for the Tempo.
“Obviously they have three of the best two-way players in the game on their roster, I mean (A’ja) Wilson, (Jackie) Young and Chelsea Gray, they’re all three-level scorers, a handful, and any game plan I think of any team in the WNBA is focused around those three, and trying to limit their effectiveness. Most importantly, their space in which they can operate, and that is no different for us today. … We’ll see what we can do to disturb their rhythm and their space, and obviously we have to do a good job also on the rebounding end, force some misses and make sure we rebound the ball better, which is something we haven’t done as of late.
And at least for the opening frame, it appeared as though Lange’s words had stuck with his players as the Tempo were summarily the aggressors on the glass. Most indicative when Marina Mabrey attacked Wilson off the dribble, tried to scoop in a layup and was blocked but the ball was corralled by Isabelle Harrison, who moved it around and back to Mabrey. The Tempo all-star tried to size-up Wilson again, this time into a side-step three three from the right wing that hit back-iron, and this time Maria Conde wrestled down low for the ball and it made its way out to Harrison above the break for the first three of her team-high 26 points on the night. It was the veteran foward’s third 20-point game of the season and set a new single-game career-high, while shooting 8-of-11 from the field and racking up 11 rebounds as well.
With 11 rebounds as a team in the first quarter, including four on the offensive end, Toronto limited the damage of Las Vegas’ three-headed monster — namely Young, who chipped in 12 early points — to a 30-24 deficit.
And although Young was then held scoreless in the second quarter, Wilson and Gray picked up the slack with 18 combined points. The guard-forward duo supercharged a 12-2 run that included a pick-and-pop three from Wilson that gave the Aces their first double-digit edge of the game, which they build into a 60-44 lead by halftime.
As had been the case of late for the Tempo, the injury-ravaged squad was ticking closer to empty in the gas tank sooner than desired. Moments of good process — Julie Allemand turning the corner off a pair of stagged screens for a deep paint touch and then kicking it out to an open Laura Juskaite in the corner — where ending in negative outcomes, like that quality look clanking off the side of the rim. Or Mabrey picking off an outlet pass for the second time, but failing to convert the transition layup as Jewell Lloyd hustled back to turn the easy opportunity into a contested miss.
Oh, that early rebounding edge? Now a 16-16 deadlock after 20 minutes.
It was evident that the Tempo’s path back into the game was by throwing the earlier and bigger punches in the second half. But while they managed let off a couple of japs, a Harrison put-back here, an Allemand wing-triple there, the Aces kept responding with haymakers. Whether it was Young pulling up and cashing one of her four threes on the night, or it was Gray carving up the Tempo’s defence (like with an absolutely absurd behind the back bounce-pass), the buckets kept getting louder as the 8,210 in attendance got quieter.
Las Vegas carried an 86-65 lead into the final frame and never let their foot off the gas. Despite carrying a near-20 point lead the rest of the way, Wilson checked back in midway through the frame and kept pouring it on. The four-time MVP finished with a game-high 26 points on 11-of-14 to go with six rebounds, four assists and four blocks. As for Young and Gray, they chipped in 24 and 14 points, along with 12 and seven assists, respectively.
With the loss, the Tempo enter the franchise’s first All-Star break with a 10-16 record, riding a three-game skid and sitting 11th in the WNBA standings. While Marina Mabrey takes part in the festivities for the first time in her career, the rest of the team will have a week off for some much-needed recovery as they prepare to visit the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx on June 28 for the first of back-to-back matchups in a home-and-home split.