{"id":178387,"date":"2026-08-22T12:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/178387\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:17:10","slug":"wnba-in-vancouver-surreal-for-olympian-as-tempo-ends-losing-streak-against-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/178387\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA in Vancouver \u2018surreal\u2019 for Olympian as Tempo ends losing streak against Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto Tempo’s Ornella Bankole defends Portland Fire’s Bridget Carleton during the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Vancouver, on Friday.ETHAN CAIRNS\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Growing up in Chatham, Ont., Bridget Carleton couldn\u2019t imagine playing professional basketball in Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This season, she\u2019s getting the chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s surreal,\u201d the Portland Fire forward said before her team took on the Toronto Tempo in Vancouver on Friday. \u201cI would never have imagined this when I was a kid growing up in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carleton was lucky \u2014 her mom knew about the Detroit Shock and they travelled across the border to take in some games. But the WNBA remained largely inaccessible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t see it on TV,\u201d she said. \u201cThe fact that I\u2019m 29 now, playing in Canada in a WNBA game, is just crazy. That kids have this to look up to in Canada, it\u2019s just really cool, how much it\u2019s evolved across America and also now Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vancouver games show Tempo\u2019s Canada-wide reach<\/a><\/p>\n

An announced crowd of 12,414 watched the Tempo (11-25) claw their way back from a 13-point deficit to beat the Fire 82-79 on Friday. The result ended Toronto\u2019s 12-game losing skid.<\/p>\n

It was a crowd that gave the Tempo an extra boost, said centre Isabelle Harrison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt good. I just felt like we had the momentum on our side because all the fans were here,\u201d she said. \u201cCanada really showed up for us today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Portland (15-21) jumped out to an early lead, thanks in part to the nine points Carleton scored in the first six minutes of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Toronto rallied, though, and levelled the score at 44-44 heading into halftime.<\/p>\n

Fans jumped to their feet midway through the third quarter when Harrison muscled her way through traffic and put in a layup that gave Toronto a 58-53 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been told since being here, they respect hard basketball players. And they love basketball out here,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just, first and foremost, into my team, playing hard for them. But making sure the crowd has something to cheer for. They showed up for us today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Serah Williams of the Portland Fire blocks Ornella Bankole of the Toronto Tempo during the game at Rogers Arena on Friday.Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The noise inside Rogers Arena on Friday was so loud at times that Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello had trouble communicating with her teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt the support,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen we made big plays, it was hard for me even to talk in some of the timeouts there. I\u2019m just happy the fans got to see us play. We are Canada\u2019s team and they\u2019re behind us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s game is part of the Tempo\u2019s Cross Canada series, which also saw Toronto play a pair of games at Montreal\u2019s Bell Centre in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first matchup, a 108-95 loss to the Dallas Wings, drew a crowd of 20,996, setting an attendance record for a WNBA regular-season game.<\/p>\n

Visiting different parts of the country is simply part of the Tempo\u2019s identity, said Brondello.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to build more fans and show them what the Tempo is about and make these players household names,\u201d she said. \u201cHopefully we can get more new fans, and not just for the Tempo, for the WNBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: Will uncomplimentary coverage of the WNBA cost you your seat in the Toronto Tempo\u2019s press box?<\/a><\/p>\n

Brondello has been part of the WNBA for 27 of its 30 seasons as either a player or a coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bringing an expansion team to Canada has had its challenges, she said, but seeing the evolution of women\u2019s basketball has been great.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur league has grown so much,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had expansions early, and it wasn\u2019t the right time. This was the right time. I think the sponsorship and the eyes that we have on us is amazing, and the visibility. And any time that you can go to a new city, it\u2019s an opportunity, isn\u2019t it? So we\u2019re a global game, but Canada is making this sport even bigger and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tempo will stay in Vancouver for the weekend, hosting a fan festival on Saturday before taking on the Las Vegas Aces at Rogers Arena on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trip shows how much the league has grown in recent years, said Toronto guard Brittney Sykes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just experiencing the type of fandom that we\u2019re getting, the type of buy-in that we\u2019re getting, the type of expansion that we\u2019re getting \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t have thought we had a team in Canada, and now we do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Julie Allemand of the Tempo signs autographs after the game on Friday.Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want us to keep putting out a really great product for these little girls and every little kid \u2026 just to believe that they can make it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching WNBA games in Canada will be huge for coming generations of basketball players across the country, Carleton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing women professional athletes playing so close to home, the sky\u2019s the limit. You don\u2019t have to have small dreams,\u201d said the two-time Olympian.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the biggest thing, is what you can see, you can be. And I would have loved that as a kid. And so now I\u2019m really honoured to be that for somebody else. To have professional women\u2019s sports in Canada, it\u2019s a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Toronto Tempo’s Ornella Bankole defends Portland Fire’s Bridget Carleton during the second half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[164,224,238,214,212,239,17,211,230,231,227,213,210,235,171,234,143,222,249,215,216,229,225,226,219,240,220,244,245,247,242,246,94,243,217,142,233,113,232,241,223,236,237,228,221,95,218,248],"class_list":["post-178387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-vancouver","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}