The Chicago Sky can’t stop the bleeding.
It began slowly, then suddenly surged all at once. After weeks of stamping an identity of defensive toughness, the Sky are hemorrhaging losses as a result of defensive collapses.
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The latest came in a 111-104 loss to the expansion Toronto Tempo on Wednesday at Wintrust Arena — the Sky’s third straight defeat since the season-ending loss of Rickea Jackson to a torn ACL. They dropped below .500 for the first time this season at 3-4.
It’s not about the scoring. A tally of 104 points is rarely too little to win a WNBA game. But blunders and poor rotations and missed rebounds piled up as the Sky allowed their highest point total of the season.
“Those are games that you should win, but it’s tough to win when you’re giving up those numbers,” coach Tyler Marsh said. “You score 104 points at any time, you’re supposed to win those games. Two 30-point quarters — that’s not to our standards.”
Photos: Chicago Sky fall to Toronto Tempo at Wintrust Arena
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Here are four takeaways from the loss.
1. Sydney Taylor had a breakout game.
Depth is crucial for a team carrying as many injuries as the Sky — and on Wednesday it was Taylor who gave them the lift they so badly needed.
Taylor was the last player to make the team, a training camp invitee who edged out three 2025 draft picks for her first spot on a WNBA roster. Ostensibly brought on as a shooting specialist, Taylor didn’t limit her game to the perimeter, driving downhill and taking on facilitation duties at times. The rookie finished with 27 points to buoy the Sky offense.
“Usually I can tell if I’m going to shoot the ball well by my first shot of the game,” Taylor said. “So once I saw that first one go out, the second one go out, I knew I had to switch it up a little bit. So I was just trying to get downhill and find my teammates.”
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2. Sloppy defense cost the Sky for a third straight game.
The Tempo are a particularly hot-and-cold team, mostly due to their dependence on outside shooting. Toronto averages 10 3-pointers per game while shooting 30.4% behind the arc. As a result, they already had racked up 106-, 98- and 95-point performances this season.
Wednesday was another hot night. The Tempo went 12-for-26 behind the arc, with Nyara Sabally (29 points) and Marina Mabrey (24 points) hitting three 3-pointers apiece. But the offensive onslaught was equally reflective of a third consecutive sloppy defensive performance from the Sky.
The Sky gave up 13 second-chance points off 10 offensive rebounds. Twice in the first half, a shot ricocheted off the backboard before bouncing between the legs of a Sky defender and into the hands of the Tempo. They also sent Toronto to the line 30 times for 25 points.
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3. The frontcourt was flat.
The Sky managed to break the 100-point mark despite an off night from their bigs, who combined for only 23 points.
Guard Skylar Diggins scored or assisted on the Sky’s first seven shots and finished with 23 points and nine assists, and guard Natasha Cloud also had nine assists and scored nine of her 18 points in the fourth quarter. Those efforts helped offset a slow night from the frontcourt as Kamilla Cardoso played less than 22 minutes, made only one basket and had only five rebounds before she was benched for most of the fourth quarter.
The Sky have been buoyed by the return of Azurá Stevens, but the veteran forward is under a strict playing-time restriction that afforded her only 15 minutes in her second game of the season. Stevens finished with 10 points, while center Elizabeth Williams had 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.
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4. Gabriela Jaquez was sidelined with a knee injury.
The Sky added another short-term absence to the injury report this week when Jaquez suffered an unspecified knee injury.
The team signed Saylor Poffenbarger to a hardship contract to accommodate for the loss of Jaquez, which suggests the rookie guard could be sidelined for at least two games. Marsh told reporters before the game that team doctors will reevaluate Jaquez this weekend.
Jaquez played significant minutes in her first six WNBA games, including 32-minute stints in the season opener against the Portland Fire and a road win over the Minnesota Lynx. Although averaging 11.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals, the rookie struggled in Saturday’s home loss to the Lynx.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
