Tempo dealt another tough hand with last-minute scratch, lineup change in loss to Wings

Toronto Tempo's Julie Allemand (22) gestures to her team during first half WNBA basketball action against the Phoenix Mercury, in Toronto, on Saturday, June 27, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

TORONTO — For the second straight game, the Toronto Tempo were forced to make a last-minute change to their starting lineup and alter their game plan moments before tip-off.

On Sunday, Tempo point guard Julie Allemand was a late scratch because of a left ankle injury, forcing Toronto to instead rely on a point-guard-by-committee approach.

It’s the second time in as many games the Tempo (9-11) have had to scramble their starting lineup at the last minute. Just over a week ago, the Tempo’s leading scorer, Marina Mabrey, was scratched minutes before their 89-80 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on June 27 after she reported feeling muscle spasms in her neck during warmups.

“I don’t like these surprises just before the game,” Brondello said following the Tempo’s 89-76 loss to the Dallas Wings at Coca-Cola Coliseum. “Julie had just a little issue with her foot, and couldn’t go, so it kind of hurt us, because we had no point guards, and you could tell out there.”

Indeed, the Tempo were in tough from the start against a Wings (13-8) squad that included the last two first-overall picks in the WNBA draft in Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Bueckers, who received a warm reception from the Toronto crowd, led all players with 22 points, while Fudd chipped in 17 points while shooting 5-for-11 from three-point range.

Mabrey, who was back in the lineup for the Tempo, led all Toronto players with 19 points.

Injuries have been a season-long storyline for the Tempo in their inaugural season.

The club has rarely fielded a full, healthy squad this year, as the team has been hit with a constant stream of injuries. Often, it seems like as one player gets healthy, another is struck by injury, as was the case on Sunday with Mabrey coming in and Allemand going out.

Against Dallas, Toronto was also without star guard Brittney Sykes, who has missed the last five games with a left foot injury, rookie Kiki Rice, who has missed 10 games with a left ankle sprain, and Temi Fagbenle, who was out with a left eye injury after being hit by a ball days ago.

“Injuries are a part of the sport, and it’s something that we’ve all dealt with in some way, shape, or form,” said Canadian guard Kia Nurse, who had 12 points in nearly 21 minutes in Sunday’s loss. “But it’s not always about when one person goes down, one other person doing their entire job; it’s about everybody stepping up.

“Sandy said it earlier in the day – five per cent more, and doing some of the little things that obviously someone like Julie would do for us.”

Nurse said the team did its best to use a point-guard-by-committee strategy against a tough Wings team.

“But ultimately, when we go in, we come in to prepare for games the same way every single day. Whichever your preparation is, and whoever is or isn’t out, you can’t really put too much stock into it right before the game, because you’re still going in with that same belief that you’ve got enough to win,” the Hamilton-native said.

The Tempo are in the midst of a nine-game homestand that includes two games at Montreal’s Bell Centre as part of the team’s Cross Canada Series. In August, the club will head west for two games in Vancouver.

But before that, the Tempo will focus on getting as healthy as possible before welcoming the Golden State Valkyries (14-7) on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2026.

Kaitlyn McGrath, The Canadian Press