Sky use big third quarter to wrap home schedule with win over Tempo

Sydney Taylor and Gabriela Jaquez each scored 18 points Tuesday night and the Chicago Sky defeated the visiting Toronto Tempo 97-85.

Kamilla Cardoso added 17 points for the Sky (16-27), who snapped a five-game losing streak by taking their final home game of the season.

Jacy Sheldon scored 12 points off the bench, Courtney Vandersloot chipped in 10 points and Elizabeth Williams had six points and 11 rebounds for Chicago.

Isabelle Harrison scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half for the Tempo (11-32), who lost their seventh in a row. Harrison also grabbed 13 rebounds. Laura Juskaite added 20 points for the Tempo.

Toronto won the season series 2-1.

The Sky used a 28-11 third quarter to take a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Aided by Toronto turnovers, the Sky used a 16-0 run to take a 14-point lead with 4:46 to play in the third quarter. Kia Nurse's steal set up Kiki Rice's layup with four minutes remaining to snap the Sky's run. Morgan Maly made a 3-pointer gave Chicago a 15-point advantage with 30 seconds left, and Sheldon completed the Sky's third-quarter domination with a layup at the buzzer to make it 72-55.

The Tempo tried to nibble at the lead and whittled it to 13 when Zaay Green swished a 3-pointer with 7:02 left in the fourth quarter. Juskaite nailed a three of her own to trim the margin to 12 with 6:33 to go.

But the Sky scored the next eight to work their lead up to 20 points on a layup by Williams. Jaquez added a steal and score to make the margin 22 with 3:12 left.

The Tempo led 20-18 after a first quarter that had eight lead changes.

The Sky pounced on Tempo turnovers and took a five-point lead when Sheldon hit a running jumper with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter. Maly's 3-pointer nudged the lead to six before Nurse answered with a 3-pointer for Toronto. Harrison tied the game on a three-point play to complete the first-half scoring and tie the game at 44.

There were 19 lead changes and five ties in the first half.