One losing streak will end Tuesday night when the Toronto Tempo visit the Chicago Sky in a matchup between teams playing out the string.
The Tempo (11-31) will try to snap a six-game losing streak after they were routed 106-69 by the New York Liberty on Sunday in the final home game of their first season.
The Sky (15-27) dropped their fifth straight on Saturday, 106-81 at Atlanta. They are also out of playoff contention.
Laura Juskaite scored a career-best 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting on Sunday for the injury-depleted Tempo.
“She holds herself to high standards,” Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said. “It’s been great to see her evolution this year and it’s pretty exciting.”
The crowd gave a standing ovation at the end of the game to the expansion team that has been playing without injured Brittney Sykes, Marina Mabrey and Aneesah Morrow.
“I think we’re very intentional about what kind of players we want to bring in and their character,” Brondello said. “What we do is hard. So if you can’t embrace hard, I mean, you probably shouldn’t be in this league.
“There were only a few games where I was a little disappointed with our effort, and this is one of them in the second half. Overall, I think their resiliency, their togetherness has been commendable, and that’s all you can ask for in a season with so much adversity.”
In their loss to Atlanta, Chicago got 14 points from Gabriela Jaquez and 11 apiece from Aicha Coulibaly and Kamilla Cardoso.
“I think we have a great squad,” Cardoso told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I think injuries messed us up a little bit, but I believe we have a great squad to make it to the playoffs and win a championship.”
The center supports coach Tyler Marsh, who has been under fire after the team was expected to reach the postseason.
“I think Tyler is an amazing coach,” she said. “I think he’s doing a great job and everything that he possibly can to help us. I do think he’s the right fit and I’m really excited to see what the future holds.”
–Field Level Media
