Marina Mabrey will miss her third consecutive game Sunday when the Toronto Tempo face the Las Vegas Aces in Vancouver. Mabrey has been one of the most important players in the franchise’s inaugural season, averaging 20.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists while serving as Toronto’s leading scorer. She is sidelined with a right adductor injury.
The Tempo enter Sunday with an 11-25 record, 13th in the league and 19 games behind the first-place Minnesota Lynx. They were eliminated from playoff contention on Aug. 19 after losing to the Washington Mystics.
Toronto had little left to play for beyond finishing its inaugural season strongly, and the Tempo snapped a 12-game losing streak Friday by beating the Portland Fire 82-79.
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However, the team will now have to finish the season without two more important contributors.
Head coach Sandy Brondello announced Sunday that Brittney Sykes and Aneesah Morrow have both been ruled out for the remainder of the season because of their respective injuries. Brondello said neither player faces a long recovery, but with only eight games remaining, the Tempo decided not to bring either back this season. She also clarified that Sykes’ foot injury is different from her original injury and is not a re-aggravation, according to TSN Sports’ Chelsea Leite.
Sykes averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 17 games this season. Morrow, acquired from Connecticut on July 31, averaged 11.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 27 games.
The Tempo will now depend on a depleted roster as they try to build on Friday’s win, beginning with Sunday’s difficult matchup against the third-place Aces.
