Brittney Sykes scored 25 points and the Toronto Tempo led wire to wire to beat the Chicago Sky 85-68 on Sunday in Isabelle Harrison's season debut.
Brittney Sykes scored 25 points, Nyara Sabally set the tone early, and the Toronto Tempo led wire to wire in an 85-68 win over the Chicago Sky on Sunday.
Toronto led the entire way. The Tempo (6-5) scored 29 points in the first quarter, shooting 52.4% to Chicago's 26.3%, and a 20-8 run put them up by double digits. Sabally scored 10 of her 15 points in the period, and Harrison's 3-pointer with 4:12 left made it 20-9. The lead reached 21.
Harrison was making her season debut. She had missed Toronto's first 10 games with a thumb injury and came off the bench for 14 points and six rebounds.
Sykes led all scorers, though she worked for it, hitting 9 of 23 shots and 7 of 9 free throws to go with seven rebounds. She took over in the third quarter, scoring 13 of the Tempo's 22 points to keep Chicago at arm's length. Sabally finished with 15 points and six rebounds, and rookie Laura Juškaitė added 10, six of them at the line, in her eighth straight start. Marina Mabrey ran the show with nine points and six assists.
Toronto did its work inside and on the glass. The Tempo pulled down a season-high 44 rebounds, outscored Chicago 46-30 in the paint and went 21 of 27 at the foul line. They needed all of it, because the long ball would not cooperate: Toronto made just 4 of 22 from 3-point range, an 18.2% night that was a season low.
Azurá Stevens gave the Sky a fight inside, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds in a season-high 24 minutes and shooting better than 53% for her second straight double-double. Gabriela Jaquez, in her first game since May 23 after a knee issue, scored 11 off the bench, and Jacy Sheldon added 10. Kamilla Cardoso grabbed eight rebounds, her fourth straight game with at least that many, but managed only nine points. Skylar Diggins, who scored 24 in Friday's win, was limited to seven on 2-of-8 shooting.
Chicago (4-7) had snapped a five-game skid Friday with an 85-80 win over Connecticut. The Sky turned it over 16 times, shot 35.4% and again played without DiJonai Carrington, Rickea Jackson and Courtney Vandersloot.
Toronto was missing rookie guard Kiki Rice, who sprained her left ankle in Wednesday's loss at New York. The game drew a sellout of 8,210 at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Chicago hosts Atlanta on Tuesday. Toronto hosts Connecticut on Wednesday.
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