In her first WNBA start, Sydney Taylor scored 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting—then watched the Sky fall 96-95 to the Liberty after she missed a contested jumper at the buzzer. The undrafted rookie’s breakout comes with a familiar challenge: staying true to her
Sydney Taylor knew the rhythm as soon as defenders crowded her.
Against the Fever last week, she crossed over and accelerated past them. When they sat flat-footed, she sidestepped and rose for a three-pointer. By the time overtime ended, the undrafted rookie had scored 30 points in 21 minutes of an overtime loss—the highest-scoring game by a rookie this season.
“When I see one go through the hoop, the basket gets huge,” Taylor told the Sun-Times on Monday. “I feel like there isn’t a shot I can’t make.”
That confidence carried into her first career start Wednesday against the Liberty. She met the moment immediately—leading the Sky with 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting, including a three-pointer that put Chicago ahead by one with 15 seconds remaining.
But the night closed on a brutal edge. After Taylor missed a contested jumper at the buzzer, the Sky fell 96-95.
“If you’re willing to take those shots, you gotta be willing to live with the result,” Taylor said after the game. “That’s a shot I’m not scared of taking. It was a very tough shot. Maybe could’ve gotten a better look, but I appreciate my teammates who…helped me keep my head up.”
Taylor’s scoring instincts are undeniable—what’s less settled is how quickly she can learn to channel them when the margin for error shrinks.
Less than a week before the Fever burst, Taylor had looked out of sorts against the Sun. She had climbed the rotation, logging at least 20 minutes in four consecutive games. But against Connecticut, she forced a contested layup on her first touch and committed four turnovers in 13 minutes. After that game, she said she was playing scared to make mistakes.
After big games, Taylor insists she isn’t surprised by her success. She said she knew she would make it to the league and that she knew her opportunity would come—but fear can persist, especially when minutes disappear quickly. After the Sun game, Taylor barely played in the next two.
She’s also responding to the limits that have followed her in the past. “In my career, college career, I’ve gotten in trouble just being too flashy or doing too much,” Taylor said. “So just trying to keep it simple, do the little things that will keep me on the floor.”
For coach Tyler Marsh, that simplicity starts with shot location. He has pushed Taylor to attack the paint instead of settling for jump shots. even as he knows she can fall in love with her jumper. Taylor is shooting just 28.6% from three-point range. but inside five feet she has made 70.7% of her attempts—the best mark on the team. Against the Liberty. she went 4-for-6 in the paint. scoring twice in transition and adding a floater and a strong drive out of the pick-and-roll. Taylor said getting to the rim early can open her three-point shot later, and Chicago felt it against New York.
Marsh isn’t trying to limit Taylor’s freewheeling style. He wants the offense to reflect it. Still, he believes more disciplined shot selection will help her grow.
The people closest to her say the ingredients for that growth are already there.
During the scrimmage portion of practice Monday, Courtney Vandersloot fired a three-quarter-court pass to a streaking Taylor, who caught it in stride and laid it in.
“Her vision on the court is crazy,” Taylor said of Vandersloot. “I told her, I was like, ‘I knew you saw me, so I’m just waiting for you to get it to me.’”
Taylor’s first training camp had felt like a dream. She was awestruck at the chance to play with Vandersloot and Skylar Diggins, two point guards she grew up watching. Those connections quickly became certainty for her future. Diggins told the Sun-Times on Sunday that Taylor would one day start in the WNBA—and that day came quickly. Vandersloot said Taylor has the tools to become an elite scorer.
Vandersloot also emphasized that it won’t be instant perfection. “You just have to play and get reps at it,” Vandersloot said. “One day it looks really good and it’s easy, and then the very next day it doesn’t. You have to figure out what works.”
“And all of a sudden, now she’s on everybody’s scouting report. They’re going to play different coverages with her now. All of that she has to learn. It’s about getting reps. It’s about getting comfortable. It’s about staying true to yourself.”
When Taylor rewatched the Fever game, she noticed Vandersloot reacting hard on the bench after one of her baskets. Taylor clipped the reaction and texted it to Vandersloot, telling her how much it meant.
That validation matters now because it eases the pressure to prove she fits. Taylor’s shot-making says she already does.
Still, whether she keeps the starting role will come down to more than highlight-reel offense.
Taylor hasn’t hidden that she wants a bigger role. There’s a straightforward argument for keeping her in the lineup: the Sky have one of the worst offenses in the league. and Taylor is already among their best scorers. The offense popped with her on the floor against the Liberty, and she complements Diggins by providing another long-range threat.
But the starting job is also about identity. The Sky want to anchor their defense, and their most urgent weakness is rebounding. Taylor has flashed the ability to defend. but she hasn’t yet consistently produced the winning plays—deflections. steals and ball pressure—that Gabriela Jaquez. Jacy Sheldon and Natasha Cloud provide. She also averages only one rebound per game.
In the end, Taylor’s role will depend on what she offers when shots aren’t falling. It will also depend on whether Marsh gives her room for the trial-and-error that Vandersloot described.
Marsh, for his part, faces a parallel challenge: trusting Taylor through mistakes without squashing what makes her special. If he does, the Sky could end up with a stronger system than they started with.
In the wider league, the WNBA announced that it will expand its regular-season schedule to 50 games in 2027, up from 44 this season—the maximum allowed under the new collective bargaining agreement.
WNBA Chicago Sky Sydney Taylor Liberty Tyler Marsh Courtney Vandersloot Skylar Diggins Gabriela Jaquez Jacy Sheldon Natasha Cloud