Rookie Sydney Taylor drained a 3-pointer Saturday with 0.9 seconds left and the Chicago Sky rallied to nip the visiting Las Vegas Aces 84-83.
A’ja Wilson drove for a layup with 3.2 seconds remaining that gave Las Vegas (20-9) a two-point lead. After a timeout, Taylor slipped around a screen and got off a clean look from the left wing for the last three of her team-high 29 points.
Natasha Cloud added 11 points for Chicago (11-18), which improved to 6-1 in its last seven home games and won for the first time in five games decided by three or fewer points. DiJonai Carrington came off the bench for 10, including a pair of foul shots that tied the game at 81 with 43.9 seconds on the clock.
Wilson starred in defeat for the Aces with a game-high 36 points and 12 rebounds. Jackie Young added 18 points and 11 boards, while NaLyssa Smith contributed 17 points.
The Sky, who outscored Las Vegas 29-18 in the fourth quarter, won despite making only 40.3% of their field goals.
The pregame storylines centered around the beginning of a five-game road trip for Las Vegas, while Chicago was hoping to carry over some momentum from a fourth-quarter comeback in its Thursday night home win over Connecticut.
Young got the Aces off the mark early with 10 first quarter points, helping them establish an 18-11 lead after draining a 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark. They took a 20-16 edge to the second period.
The Sky fought back in the second quarter to tie the game at 24 on Cloud’s 3-pointer with 6:26 remaining. However, Las Vegas was able to restore a five-point lead before Taylor’s floater with 1.5 seconds left sliced its lead to 40-37 at halftime.
Young’s 3-point play at the 1:58 mark of the third quarter gave the Aces their largest lead at 61-48. Even after Courtney Vandersloot played beat the buzzer with a jumper, Las Vegas still owned a 65-55 margin going to the fourth period.
Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso tied Wilson for game-high rebounding honors with a dozen.
Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray led all players with nine assists.
–Field Level Media
