Set The Tempo Postgame: Kiki Rice Scores Career High as Toronto Tempo Fall to Seattle Storm

But really, like, if you wanna talk about best case scenario for down the stretch here for the Toronto Tempo, this is, this is up there.

[laughs] The Toronto Tempo fall 90 to 78 at the Seattle Storm.

They've lost two straight after snapping their 12-game losing streak against Portland and Vancouver, but hey, this was good.

Kiki Rice sets a new career high with 24 points to go along with five assists, three rebounds, and a steal.

And this is the Kiki Rice that we saw before she went down with the ankle injury early in the season.

She looks back to prime form, and this looks like a player that you could build a franchise around.

Now, I know they're without Brittney Sykes, I know they're without Marina Mabrey, I know they're without Nyara Sabally, I know they're without a vast majority, Anisa Morrow, their roster.

But [smacks lips] Kiki Rice, and then they were playing the Seattle Storm, but Kiki Rice has shown time and time again what kind of a competitor she is.

So you love to see that.

24 points to go along with, uh, what did I say there? Four, five assists and three rebounds.

A great game from Kiki Rice.

How about a 17 point, 14 rebound performance from Isabelle Harrison? How about 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists from Laura Ekide? Now again, I know they're playing the Seattle Storm, who are now 8 and 31.

They came into this with just seven victories.

But again, great performances from Kiki Rice, Laura Ekide, and Izzy Harrison, and they avoid Seattle a little bit more in the tankathon, because Seattle's currently sitting fourth in the draft lottery odds.

And so this was big to lose to them, because they are now three games behind the Seattle Storm, with six games left to play on the schedule.

And so right now, and they're inching closer to Connecticut.

Connecticut has a win percentage of two six three-- or sorry, two five six.

This is over the last two years for them.

But Toronto is at two eight nine with just the one year.

So I don't know if they're gonna be able to catch Connecticut, but they might.

If they were to lose out, they would.

And then you have Chicago, their pick's gonna transfer to Washington, but they're at three oh one, and then you have Seattle at three 73.

So Toronto sort of distances themself there from Seattle.

They do not play them again, but the final game of the regular season is going to be against those very same Connecticut Sun, and that could decide-- And again, this doesn't decide who actually gets the first pick.

You actually have to do the lottery, but it does decide who will have the best odds.