Sydney Taylor's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Sky over Aces, 84-83
WNBA Chicago Sky

Sydney Taylor's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Sky over Aces, 84-83

Published on August 1, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chicago Sky News Release


The Chicago Sky defeated the Las Vegas Aces 84-83 in the final seconds on Saturday, Aug. 1. The Sky are now 11-18 on the season, 9-9 against the Western Conference, 7-7 at home and 22-31 against the Aces all time.

In yet another Rookie of the Year-worthy performance, Sydney Taylor made one of the clutchest shots of the season, sinking a 24-foot three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left in the game to propel the Sky to victory. Taylor notched her fifth 25+ point game while making over five three-pointers for the second time this season.

Joining Taylor in helping the Sky erase a 13-point, third-quarter deficit, Natasha Cloud added 11 points, four assists and a steal. Since re-entering the starting rotation, Cloud is averaging 11.2 points and 5.7 assists per game. DiJonai Carrington notched 10 points, two rebounds and nailed three of her six attempts from the field in her 19 minutes of action.

Kamilla Cardoso took command of the paint and put up eight points, 12 rebounds and two assists. Cardoso showed up with another good performance against four-time MVP A'ja Wilson, jumping to the top five in rebounds in Sky history. Aicha Coulibaly made her second career start for Chicago and registered eight points, three rebounds and posted a perfect four for four clip from the free-throw line.

Elizabeth Williams added seven points, three rebounds and a steal while five-time All-Star Courtney Vandersloot stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block in just 20 minutes, making a prominent impact on both sides of the court.

For the Aces, Wilson tallied a game-high 36 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Five-time All-Star Jackie Young also finished in double-double territory, recording 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a 50% clip from the floor. Rounding out the scoring for Las Vegas was forward NaLyssa Smith, who notched 17 points, six rebounds and two steals on a 63.6% look.

Other highlights include:

Sydney Taylor has five 25-point games this season. In league history, all other undrafted rookies combined for five

Taylor is averaging 18.4 points in 16 games as a starter and 21.3 in her last six, which leads all rookies

Taylor became the Sky's first rookie to ever hit a go-ahead three-pointer in clutch time

Taylor is first on the Sky's all-time rookie list for 25-point games after today's game, breaking a tie with Diamond DeShields and Elena Delle Donne

According to ESPN Insights, when Sydney Taylor was left open against Las Vegas, she scored 20 points, shot 8 for 13 (61.5%) from the field and 4 for 8 (50%) from three

Kamilla Cardoso (831) reached No. 5 in franchise history in rebounds

Courtney Vandersloot recorded a season-high eight rebounds

Vandersloot (174) passed Elena Delle Donne (172) for No. 9 on Chicago's all-time offensive rebounds list

Elizabeth Williams (233) surpassed Jessica Breland (231) for No. 7 on the Sky's all-time offensive rebounds list

Williams reached 300 career steals

Williams notched 1,000 career points with the Sky

Natasha Cloud has tied teammate Skylar Diggins for eighth on the WNBA all-time assists list (1,861)

DiJonai Carrington and Elizabeth Williams each individually outscored the Aces' entire bench

A'ja Wilson is approaching the most 30-point, 10-rebound games in a season. She's at six such games which is third all-time in a season, behind only herself in 2024 (eight) and 2025 (10)

NEXT UP: The Sky host the Phoenix Mercury for their third straight home game and the final matchup between the two teams this season Monday, Aug. 3 at Wintrust Arena. Chicago is 1-1 against Phoenix this season and holds an all-time record of 33-19 against the Mercury.

In their first game of the series, the Sky lost on the road to Phoenix 91-83. The Sky flipped the script in their last matchup against the Mercury, securing the win 77-66 on July 7 at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix. Chicago looks to take the season series 2-1 on Monday evening.

In their last meeting, Chicago's rookie sensation, Sydney Taylor, led the offense charge with 16 points, knocking down six of her 11 field-goal attempts. Over her last eight games, Taylor has averaged just under 19 points per game while shooting an impressive 49.8% from the field. Veteran Natasha Cloud added 11 points, six assists and four rebounds.

Phoenix enters Monday's test on a three-game win streak. Kahleah Copper leads Phoenix in scoring, averaging 20.7 points, 2.1 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game and shooting 43.5% from the field. Alyssa Thomas leads the league in assists (22.5) and assists per game (8.9). She is averaging 15.8 points, 1.5 steals and shooting 51.9% from the field. DeWanna Bonner is contributing 12.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.

The game between Chicago and Phoenix tips off at 8 p.m. CT on Friday and will be broadcast locally on The U.

KEY RUNS:

The Aces went on a 17-7 run from 5:14 in the first quarter to 9:11 in the second quarter

Las Vegas went on a 19-7 run from 7:02 to 1:58 in the third quarter

The Sky went on a 19-8 run from 0:00 in the third to 4:25 in the fourth quarter

Chicago outscored Las Vegas 29-18 in the fourth quarter

KEY STATS:

Chicago shot 40% (8 of 20) from beyond the arc while holding Las Vegas to 22.7% (5 of 22) for the game

Chicago's bench outscored Las Vegas's 21-5

The Sky notched nine steals while the Aces tallied five

Las Vegas recorded eight blocks to Chicago's four

The Aces out-rebounded the Sky 40-32

Las Vegas led by as many as 13 points

There were five lead changes and six ties

The Aces tallied four blocks in the first quarter

Chicago shot 64.7% (11 of 17) from the field and 100% (3 of 3) from deep while holding Las Vegas to 41.2% (7 of 17) and 0.0% (0 of 4) respectively in the fourth quarter

Chicago tallied 29 points in the fourth quarter

CHICAGO NOTES:

Courtney Vandersloot accounted for seven of Chicago's 16 points in the first quarter (three points, four points created from assists)

Vandersloot accounted for six of the Sky's 18 points in the third quarter (four points, two points created from assists)

Kamilla Cardoso notched five rebounds in the first quarter

Sydney Taylor accounted for eight of the Sky's 21 points in the second quarter

Taylor accounted for 15 of Chicago's 29 points in the fourth quarter (13 points, two points created from assists)

Natasha Cloud accounted for six of Chicago's 21 points in the second quarter

Elizabeth Williams accounted for seven of the Sky's 29 points in the fourth quarter

LAS VEGAS NOTES:

Jackie Young accounted for 14 of the Aces' 20 points in the first quarter (10 points, four points created from assists)

Chelsea Gray accounted for nine of Las Vegas's 20 points in the second quarter (two points, seven points created from assists)

NaLyssa Smith accounted for four of the Aces' 20 points in the second quarter

A'ja Wilson accounted for 11 of Las Vegas's 20 points in the second quarter (eight points, three points created from assists)

Wilson accounted for 17 of the Aces' 25 points in the third quarter (13 points, four points created from assists)

Wilson accounted for 11 of Las Vegas's 18 points in the fourth quarter

Check out the Chicago Sky Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from August 1, 2026


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