TORONTO – Hamilton, Ont. native Kia Nurse scored the first three points in Toronto Tempo history and Lexi Held added 21 as the Toronto Tempo fell 83-78 to the Connecticut Sun Wednesday night.
Although the Tempo led after three quarters, they were unable to overcome Sun forward Aneesah Morrow’s dominant fourth.
Nurse finished the night with eight points Held added two assists and two steals.
Laura Juskaite scored 10 off the bench and added four rebounds and two assists and steals. Maddison Rocci also came off the bench for eleven points and three assists.
Morrow led the Sun with 21 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Kingston, Ont. native Aaliyah Edwards added 14 points and five rebounds, while Kennedy Burke had 13 points and three assists.
The Tempo were out key players Julie Allemand, Isabelle Harrison, Marina Mabrey and Brittney Sykes, and lost Nyara Sabally to injury in the second quarter.
Connecticut went on an 11-2 run later in the quarter, led by Morrow with eight points, but the Tempo would respond with a 9-0 run of their own, led by Held’s seven points, leaving the game tied 20-20 after one.
In a mostly tight second quarter, Toronto and Connecticut experienced multiple lead changes, but the Tempo went on a 12-1 run in the last three minutes to enter the half with a 47-40 lead, with Rocci recording nine points, an assist and a steal off the bench, but Sabally left the game after colliding with Connecticut’s Diamond Miller.
Toronto spent the first half of the third quarter building on its lead, having outscored the Sun 12-8 through the first five minutes to maintain an 11-point advantage.
Connecticut managed to pull within four after a 9-2 run led by Kennedy Burke’s three points and assist, but Elizabeth Balogun’s jump shot and Kristy Wallace’s three restored a nine-point lead for the Tempo as they finished the quarter with a 66-57 advantage.
The Sun did not slow down in the fourth quarter, kicking off the frame with another 9-2 run to narrow the gap to two, led by Morrow’s four points.
Held hit another three to extend the lead to four points, but Connecticut reclaimed the lead on a 9-0 run as Morrow continued her dominant outing with another five points.
The Tempo sought to rally down four points with just over 50 seconds left, but a key steal by Morrow allowed her to extend the Connecticut lead to six with a running layup, who proceeded to blow a kiss to the Toronto crowd.
Held hit another three to bring the Tempo within three, and the Toronto faithful were left on the edge of their seats as the two teams exchanged free-throw attempts in the final 14 seconds, but the Sun emerged victorious in the end.
The Tempo head to Minnesota to take on the Lynx in more WNBA pre-season action Friday night.