Tempo vs. Fire: Isabelle Harrison's 25 Points Lift Short-Handed Toronto Past Portland, End 12-Game Skid

Forty days. That's how long the Toronto Tempo had gone without a win when Bridget Carleton's last-second 3 sailed over everything on Friday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. It hit nothing, and Toronto's 12-game losing streak was officially over.

Isabelle Harrison had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Kiki Rice added 19 on 7-of-9 shooting, and the Tempo held on for an 82-79 win over the Portland Fire. They did it missing their leading scorer, losing two more players in the first quarter and a half, and blowing a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in under three minutes. Sometimes breaking a skid requires exactly that much chaos.

The Roller Coaster, Complete With a Scream Section

Portland started as if a 13th straight loss was already in the mail. An 8-0 run helped put the Fire up 18-6, and they stretched it to 13 in the first quarter, with Carleton scoring 10 of her 18 points in the opening period. Toronto answered with eight straight of its own to get within 21-16, and it was 24-16 at the end of the frame.

The second quarter belonged to the Tempo. They won it 28-20 to tie the game at 44 at the half, and an 8-0 run in the third turned a three-point deficit into a five-point lead on the way to a 66-59 edge after three. Rice's three-point play at 6:26 of the fourth made it 75-63. The 12,414 at Rogers Arena had every reason to start believing.

Portland, as if on cue, made them regret it. The Fire scored 13 straight points over the next 2:37, with Nyadiew Puoch, Carleton and Emily Engstler each hitting a 3 in the run. Engstler's triple with 3:28 left put Portland ahead 76-75, and a game that had looked finished suddenly felt like every other Tempo game for the last six weeks.

Then both teams went completely cold. Nobody scored for almost two minutes. Harrison finally broke the drought with a basket inside at 1:38, off a Julie Allemand assist, and Toronto never trailed again. Rice's short bucket made it 79-76 with 1:06 left. Carla Leite made two free throws to pull within one, Allemand split a pair with 19.3 seconds left, Leite split a pair of her own with 11 seconds left, and Harrison calmly drained both of hers with 9.8 seconds on the clock for the final margin. Carleton's contested 3 just before the horn was the air ball that closed the show.

Harrison and Rice Carried the Load

Harrison was the steady hand on a night that had very few of them. She shot 8 of 18 from the field, 9 of 10 at the line and grabbed all 10 of her rebounds on the defensive end, while committing only one turnover in 28 minutes. When Toronto needed free throws in the last 10 seconds, she made them.

Rice was the most efficient player on the floor. Her 19 points tied her career high, per the Associated Press, and came on 7-of-9 shooting with four assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes. Laura Juskaite added 15 points and seven rebounds, going 8 of 10 at the line, though her six turnovers were a headache. Allemand filled in the gaps with five points, six assists and five rebounds, and Ornella Bankole hit both of her 3s in a team-best plus-17 off the bench.

The Tempo got there the hard way, at the line. Toronto took 33 free throws and made 26, while Portland went 14 of 17. Given the Fire's 11-of-31 shooting from 3 against Toronto's 6 of 22, free throws were what made the math work.

The Injury List That Wouldn't Quit

To appreciate what Toronto did, consider who wasn't out there. Leading scorer Marina Mabrey missed the game with a right adductor issue. Nyara Sabally and Maria Conde, who have started a combined 70 games this season, were both out with calf injuries, per the AP. Then Brittney Sykes left about a minute and a half into the game with a foot injury, and Aneesah Morrow left early in the second quarter with a knee issue. By the fourth quarter, this was a roster held together with tape and adrenaline.

Portland's offense had its moments, but it never got clean. Carleton finished 5 of 10 from deep but just 5 of 13 overall, Megan DiLeo had 14 with six rebounds, Engstler scored 13 with three blocks, and Serah Williams went 5 of 7 for 10 off the bench. Leite, the usual catalyst, was held to 7 points on 2-of-7 shooting, though she handed out six assists. As a team, the Fire shot 39%.

The Basket That Ended Five Scoreless Minutes

Harrison's basket at 1:38. Toronto had just coughed up a 12-point lead, had not scored in nearly five minutes, and had every reason to start pressing. Instead Harrison scored inside, Toronto took the lead back and it never let go.

How a Depleted Team Won

• 26 of 33: Toronto's free throws, the difference in a three-point game.
• 13-0: Portland's fourth-quarter run, which nearly ruined everything.
• 39%: Portland's field-goal percentage, on 27 of 70.
• 34-27: Toronto's rebounding edge.
• 11-4: Fast-break points, Tempo over Fire.

One Streak Over, One Long Climb

The 12-game skid is over. The last time Toronto won was July 12, when it beat New York 93-91 in Montreal. The Tempo improve to 11-25, 7-12 at home, and stay in Vancouver for another game at Rogers Arena on Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces.

Portland falls to 15-21, its two-game winning streak gone. The AP had the Fire 5 1/2 games behind Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot, with eight games left. They host Washington on Sunday, then visit Dallas on Tuesday. Portland still took the season series 2-1, having won the first two meetings by 19 and 14.

The Relief Is the Result

Twelve straight losses is long enough that a win stops being a result and starts being a relief. It's the moment in the sports movie where the lovable underdogs finally get one, except this one came with a depleted bench and a near-collapse, and it counts just the same.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Injury news and other context as reported by the Associated Press.