Nyara Sabally’s career-high 29 helps Tempo prolong Sky’s skid

Nyara Sabally scored a career-best 29 points Wednesday night to help the visiting Toronto Tempo defeat the Chicago Sky 111-104.

Sabally also had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots as the Tempo ended a two-game losing skid while extending the Sky’s losing streak to three.

Marina Mabrey added 24 points and seven assists for the Tempo (4-4). Brittney Sykes scored 20 points, Kiki Rice chipped in 14 and Maria Conde tallied 12.

Rookie Sydney Taylor scored a career-high 27 points off the bench for the Sky (3-4). Skylar Diggins added 23 points, nine assists and two blocks for Chicago. Natasha Cloud had 18 points and nine assists. Elizabeth Williams added 11 points, and Azura Stevens contributed 10.

The Tempo led by six points entering the fourth quarter. Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 8:42 to go in the fourth to cut the margin to four. Aicha Coulibaly’s putback layup brought Chicago to within 96-93 with 4:48 remaining. Sykes answered with a layup.

Taylor’s 3-pointer cut the lead to two with 3:33 left. Sabally nailed a 3-pointer after Mabrey’s steal to give Toronto an eight-point lead with 1:43 to play.

The Sky took advantage of four early Tempo turnovers to take a 10-5 lead. Toronto used a 14-4 run to take a 23-20 lead with 1:02 to play in the first quarter. Toronto led 25-22 after one quarter.

Mabrey opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and hit another from beyond the arc to give Toronto an 11-point lead, 38-27, with 7:15 to go in the second quarter. The Sky rallied to climb to within five points on Cloud’s 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining. Toronto led 55-48 at halftime.

Chicago continued to struggle from 3-point range despite getting some good looks, going 3-for-16 (18.8%) in the first half while Toronto was 6-for-15 (40%). The Sky took advantage of eight Toronto first-half turnovers for a 13-0 lead in fastbreak points.

Toronto worked the lead to 12 on Sabally’s cutting layup with 8:21 left in the third quarter. Sabally converted two free throws to bump the margin to 14.

The margin dwindled to four on Taylor’s 3-pointer with 1:48 left as the Sky capitalized on defensive stops. Toronto led 80-74 after three quarters.

–Field Level Media