Toronto Tempo's Challenging Season: Kiki Rice Emerges as a Bright Spot
Toronto’s bruising debut season has looked less like an expansion campaign and more like a medical report.
Isabelle Harrison never really got out of the blocks. Nyara Sabally and Temi Fagbenle have bounced in and out of the rotation. Aneesah Morrow arrived at the trade deadline, flashed promise in just seven games, then was lost for the year. Brittney Sykes has only managed 17 appearances. Kiki Rice missed almost all of June and July with an ankle sprain.
Stack those absences together and the picture is clear: no WNBA team has been hit harder.
So instead of chasing a fairytale playoff berth in their first season, the Toronto Tempo are staring at ping-pong balls and draft boards. They are firmly in the race for the number-one pick in the 2027 WNBA Draft, a class that could feature JuJu Watkins, Madison Booker, and Hannah Hidalgo. For a franchise still laying its foundations, that’s not exactly a disaster.
It hasn’t made the present any easier to stomach.
Toronto has only two wins to show for July and August combined. One was a genuine shocker over the New York Liberty, the other an 82–79 grind against the Portland Fire that finally snapped a 12-game losing streak. Those nights felt less like routine regular-season wins and more like brief respites in a year of attrition.
Amid all of it, one player has cut through the gloom.
Kiki Rice, rising in the wreckage
Since returning from that ankle sprain about a month ago, Kiki Rice has been the kind of bright spot front offices cling to when the losses pile up. Her August has been sharp, aggressive, and increasingly authoritative.
She’s averaging 14 points on 50% shooting from the field, knocking down 37.5% from three, while adding 2.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Just 1.2 turnovers per game. For a young guard asked to do more with each passing week, that control matters.
The production isn’t a one-off spike, either. Rice has scored at least 10 points in seven straight games. In six of those, she’s handed out at least four assists. She hasn’t turned the ball over more than twice in any of them. That’s the profile of a guard who is learning how to run a team, not just survive on it.
About a week ago, after a nine-point loss to the Washington Mystics, Sandy Brondello put a label on it: franchise player.
On current evidence, it doesn’t feel exaggerated.
A career night, and a statement
Rice’s latest performance, even in defeat, underlined how quickly she’s growing into that billing. Against the Seattle Storm, she poured in a career-high 24 points, shooting 50% from the floor and a perfect 11-for-11 at the free-throw line. She added 3 rebounds, 5 assists, and a steal.
No Sykes. No Marina Mabrey. No safety net.
Rice ran the offense, took the toughest perimeter assignment in guarding Flau’jae Johnson, and still led all scorers. That alone would be impressive. Doing it while attacking a paint patrolled by Dominique Malonga, Awa Fam, and Ezi Magbegor takes it up another level. She went 5-for-9 inside the arc against that front line, refusing to be intimidated by length or contact.
That blend of composure, physical courage, and shot-making is exactly what coaches dream about when they talk about building around a young guard.
The wins may not come now. In truth, they probably shouldn’t. Every loss nudges Toronto closer to a franchise-altering pick in 2027. But Rice’s trajectory is already reshaping how the future looks.
Picture it: Sykes back healthy. Mabrey spacing the floor. Rice orchestrating, attacking, defending the opponent’s best perimeter threat. Add a blue-chip lottery talent from a class headlined by Watkins, Booker, and Hidalgo, and suddenly this bruising inaugural season starts to look like something else entirely.
Not just a year to endure. A year that quietly delivered the backbone of a contender.
Toronto won’t say it out loud while the games are still being played. But with Rice emerging and help on the way, how long before the Tempo stop thinking about draft odds and start thinking seriously about the playoff bracket?
