Tempo, Sun clash, both seeking return to win column

One losing streak will end Friday night when the Toronto Tempo visit the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

The Sun (2-14) have dropped six straight after an 88-81 home loss to the Washington Mystics on Wednesday.

The Tempo (7-8) lost their third in a row, 113-91, to the host Indiana Fever on Tuesday.

The Sun will be seeking revenge on Friday. The Tempo defeated them 106-102 in overtime on June 10 at Toronto.

The Tempo lost leading scorer Brittney Sykes (20.1 points per game) to a non-contact foot injury during the third quarter on Tuesday.

Sykes was helped off the floor and to the locker room before being ruled out of the rest of the game.

"No update, she'll be evaluated. Hopefully, it's nothing too serious," Tempo coach Sandy Brondello said after the game. "When you lose one of your best players, it's tough, but no one's going to feel pity for us. We have a next-player-up mentality. I thought we competed hard, but we couldn't find ways to fill (Sykes') shoes."

Sykes, who has been ruled out for Friday's game with a left foot injury, had 11 points in 19-plus minutes against the Fever. Laura Juskaite led Toronto with 19 points and Marina Mabrey had 18 points and seven assists.

Sykes was instrumental in the overtime win over the Sun last week with career high-tying 38 points, including five of Toronto's 10 overtime points. The Tempo, who overcame a 14-point second-quarter deficit against the Sun, got 21 points from Mabrey. Connecticut's Aaliyah Edwards and Leila Lacan each scored 24 points against Toronto.

The Sun have lost the first two games of a six-game homestand that they hoped might lead to a turnaround.

In the loss to Washington, reserve Aneesah Morrow had 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Lacan also had 11 points.

"I cannot say it's easy, it's tough mentally," Sun coach Rachid Meziane said. "Our job is to think about the next game and see how we can improve. My regret is we didn't start the game the way we wanted. Offensively, we missed too many open shots and missed too many layups.

"We wanted to use these three games in a row at home to change, a little bit, our dynamic, but it's not a good start for us," Meziane continued. "I hope after the 40 minutes against Toronto in a couple of days we'll be able to say something different."

--Field Level Media