VANCOUVER — The Toronto Tempo will be without guard Brittney Sykes and forward Aneesah Morrow for the rest of the season. Head coach Sandy Brondello says both players have been ruled out after leaving Friday’s 82-79 win over the Portland Fire in Vancouver with injuries. “Pretty tough luck this year, isn’t it?” she said before the Tempo faced the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday. Sykes played just one minute 31 seconds in the first quarter of Friday’s matchup before exiting with a foot injury. She was in just her second game back after missing eight weeks with a left plantar fascia injury. Morrow hurt her left knee midway through the second after getting tangled up with Fire forward Emily Engstler under the Portland basket. Morrow stayed on the hardwood for several minutes being evaluated by Tempo staff before she was carried off the court in tears. While the ailments will keep Sykes and Morrow out of Toronto’s final eight games of the season, neither will require long recoveries, Brondello said. Guard Marina Mabrey (right adductor) did not play against Portland and will not be in the lineup against the reigning WNBA champion on Sunday. The 29-year-old all star will be evaluated “in a few weeks,” Brondello said, and she’s unsure whether Mabrey will play again this season. Toronto (11-25) has struggled with injuries throughout its inaugural campaign, and will also miss forwards Maria Conde (left calf) and Nyara Sabally (left calf) for Sunday’s tilt against Las Vegas. Limitied availability has changed Brondello’s coaching plans this season. “I suppose right now makes it really easy to rotate, doesn’t it? No stress there,” she said. “Look, what can you do? You just go with what you can and be mindful of not overloading them. I think that’s important for me. And sometimes there’s lineups out there that typically I wouldn’t have out there, but I have no other solution.” Toronto will activate forward Ornella Bankole for Sunday’s game. The team signed the five-foot-11 wing to a developmental contract on June 29 after she played the 2025-26 season for Casademont Zaragoza in Spain. The team found out on Saturday that it cannot sign any additional players to hardship contracts this season, Brondello said. While Toronto is missing several players due to injuries and will not get them back before their final game of the season on Sept. 24, the players could technically be healthy and ready to play before the end of the WNBA playoffs, making the team ineligible for additional signings, the coach said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2026. Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
