Sky rookie Gabriela Jaquez is finding her 3-point shot

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rookie Sky guard Gabriela Jaquez was a solid three-point shooter in college. Through the first nine games of her WNBA career, though, she had never made more than two in a game.

Then came the Liberty.

Jaquez made 4 of 5 from three-point range and scored 22 points, nearly helping the Sky pull off an upset. Her secret? Imagining the beach.

“Me and Rachel [Banham] were talking about how a lot of players, especially me, play better when we’re not thinking too much,” Jaquez said Saturday at shootaround. “So we kinda made a joke where we’re like, ‘Let’s think about vacation, shopping, the beach.’ My mentality going into the game was just to ... have fun and think about vacations.”

The Sky probably should have tried this sooner.

They have struggled from deep all season, still shooting only 29% as a team.

But Jaquez is helping turn things around. The Sky entered Saturday’s game against the Wings shooting 43.5% from three-point range over their previous three games. Guards Skylar Diggins and Sydney Taylor also heated up during the stretch.

Jaquez is still easing into the three-point shot. She’d attempted only 23 in 10 games entering Saturday, but after her outburst against the Liberty, she was shooting 43.5%.

That’s a good sign for the No. 5 pick, who already has put together a strong rookie season. Jaquez is averaging 11.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Her floor game has translated immediately: She rebounds, runs the floor and finds open seams for cuts. A dependable three-pointer could take her to another level.

The Liberty performance also snapped a brief lull after Jaquez returned from a hyperextended knee. She played well in her first game back, then followed with three points and five turnovers against the Dream and just six points in an overtime loss to the Fever.

A trip to the beach — at least mentally — helped her find her rhythm again.

Taylor envy

After scoring 30 points against the Fever and 24 against the Liberty, rookie guard Sydney Taylor has put the rest of the league on notice.

“Very impressed,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said of Taylor. “[She] went overseas, worked on her craft, committed to working on her game….She’s really put in the work and she’s getting the rewards of that right now.”

Fernandez said the Wings considered inviting Taylor to training camp, but she already had committed to the Sky.

Taylor went undrafted in 2024 and was unfamiliar to many WNBA observers. Not to Fernandez. Before taking the Wings job, he coached at South Florida and noticed Taylor on the midmajor circuit while she played at UMass.

Will the Sky have an All-Star?

The Sky are hosting the All-Star Game in Chicago, but it’s unclear whether any of their players will take part. Center Kamilla Cardoso was their only player among the top 40 in the first returns of fan voting.

Cardoso is averaging 11.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Her rebounding average ranks among the league’s top 10, and she ranks fifth among centers in assists.