Tempo vs. Sun: Brittney Sykes Matches Career-High 38 Points as Toronto Rallies From 14 Down in OT

Brittney Sykes shot 13 free throws on Wednesday night and made all of them, which does not sound like the plot of a thriller until you watch what each one did to the Connecticut Sun. Four came in the final 1:19 of regulation. Two more slammed the door with 10.7 seconds left in overtime. By the end, Connecticut had led for most of the night and still walked out of Coca-Cola Coliseum with nothing.

The expansion Toronto Tempo climbed out of a 14-point hole and beat the Sun 106-102 in overtime in Commissioner's Cup play, with Sykes matching her career high at 38 points in front of 8,210. Toronto moved to 7-5. Connecticut fell to 2-12, and this fourth straight loss came with a seven-point lead inside the final three and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

Three Quarters of Sun, Then the Roof Caved In

For a long time the visitors were simply better. Charlisse Leger-Walker's jumper sent Connecticut into the second quarter up 31-30, and a 26-16 period made it 57-46 at the half. Leila Lacan opened the third with a three that pushed the gap to 14, the biggest lead either team had all night.

Toronto's answer arrived the way most of its answers did, through pressure and whistles. Six quick points cut the deficit to eight, Marina Mabrey kept firing away against her former team, and a Sykes fadeaway near the end of the third made it 79-72.

Connecticut still had a cushion late. Lacan's 17-foot pull-up made it 90-83 with 3:25 left, and two Olivia Nelson-Ododa free throws kept it at seven, 92-85, with 2:44 to go. A reasonable person would have started drafting the Sun's first win since May.

Then came the tie at 92, a Lacan pull-up, two Sykes free throws, an Aaliyah Edwards layup off a Lacan feed, and two more from Sykes. Overtime, 96-96. The extra period opened with Mabrey hitting from 22 feet and Edwards answering from 23, her only attempt from deep all night. Kennedy Burke's two free throws gave Connecticut a 102-100 lead with 2:10 left, and the Sun never scored again. Mabrey's floater tied it, Sykes drove for the go-ahead layup with 42.7 seconds remaining, and her last two freebies ended the argument.

Sykes Was the Entire Closing Argument

Thirty-eight points on 11-of-20 shooting, 3 of 6 from three, a perfect 13 of 13 at the line, 41 minutes on the floor. The number to circle is nine: Toronto scored 14 points after the 92-92 tie, and Sykes had nine of them. She is not subtle about it. She gets to her spot, she draws the contact, and she makes you pay for reaching.

She had real help. Laura Juskaite scored 19 on 5-of-7 shooting, went 8 of 8 at the line, picked up four steals and finished a game-best plus-16. Mabrey scored 21, though it took her 20 shots, and Nyara Sabally added 15, nine of them at the stripe. Julie Allemand only scored six, but the Tempo were plus-14 with her on the floor, which is the kind of number that never makes the highlight reel.

For Connecticut, this was a great night wasted. Edwards, who is from Kingston, Ontario, had a career-high 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting in her home province. Lacan also set a career high with 24, hitting 4 of 8 from three and dishing seven assists. Saniya Rivers had 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Diamond Miller and Burke scored 11 each, and Nelson-Ododa pulled down 13 boards. You can build a win out of that. The Sun built something else.

The 44 Seconds That Flipped It

Go back to 2:24 left in regulation, Connecticut up 92-85. Juskaite buried a 24-footer off a Sabally pass. Sabally then went to the line twice, made all four, and by 1:40 the seven-point lead was gone. It took 44 seconds, and only one of those three scoring trips involved a field goal.

That stretch was the whole game in miniature. Connecticut committed 29 fouls, and Nelson-Ododa and Lacan each finished with six, which is a rough way to protect a lead. Every whistle stopped the clock, handed Toronto a free look and gave the building another reason to get loud. The Sun were not outplayed so much as outlasted at the line.

Stats That Matter

• 36 of 43: Toronto's free throws, against 25 of 37 for Connecticut. That is an 11-point gap in a four-point game.
• 23-12: Toronto's edge in points off turnovers, fueled by 12 steals to Connecticut's three. The Sun gave it away 19 times.
• 42-28: Connecticut's rebounding margin, with 18 offensive boards, six of them from Burke off the bench.
• 22-7: The Sun's bench scoring advantage, one more category they won on the way to losing.
• 61: Combined fouls. Three players, counting Toronto's Isabelle Harrison, finished with six.

What It Means

Toronto has won four of five and two straight, sits two games over .500 and is 4-2 at home, all of which is a lot of good news for a first-year roster in June. It was also the first time these teams met in the regular season, so the Tempo can enjoy being 1-0 against Connecticut until further notice. Next up is a Friday night trip to Washington.

Connecticut is 2-12 overall and 1-8 on the road, and the schedule offers no sympathy: Indiana comes to town on Saturday.

An Expansion Team Just Taught the Class

Expansion teams are usually the ones getting a lesson in how to close. On Wednesday, the new kids ran the classroom. The syllabus was simple: stay within reach, get to the line, and put the ball in the hands of the person who will not miss. Connecticut did almost everything else right and still failed the only exam that counts. Sykes, meanwhile, got a perfect score, in the most literal sense available.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Connecticut Sun.