With WNBA star Caitlin Clark on deck, battered Tempo search for positives amid 10-game losing streak

In the throes of a 10-game losing streak, the Toronto Tempo are hanging on to the little things.

“I mean, finally we kept a team under 100 points, that's probably the biggest thing and improvement,” forward Laura Juskaite said after practice on Friday, two days after the Tempo lost 94-88 against the Dallas Wings to cap a five-game road trip.

“But in general, we had different lineups again, Julie [Allemand] and Maria [Conde] were out. So just a lot of things that we can't control. So we just come to the game and we see who is available and we just play and try to do our best.”

With seven games remaining until the WNBA breaks for the FIBA World Cup, the Tempo’s expansion season has gone off the rails. Having dropped 14 of their past 15 games to fall to 10-23, Toronto’s playoff hopes have essentially vanished. Nine wins and four teams separate them from the eighth-place Washington Mystics.

Next up, that defence that Juskaite cited as the team’s main issue during the skid will welcome Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena. The Fever lead the WNBA with 96.2 points per game and 115 points per 100 possessions.

The Tempo have six days off at home to figure out some solutions.

Struggling Tempo drop 10th straight game to Wings

“We had a lot of games and it's been a tough, tough couple weeks, tough month because we couldn't win any games. I think it's good to have some practices because also we have new players so put them more into the concept and just keep working on the flow and defence,” Juskaite said.

Whatever happens in that Fever game, however, will go more toward informing how the Tempo evolve down the stretch of this season and into next.

Toronto is integrating forward Aneesah Morrow, acquired