Louisville Professional Athletes

Engstler's Career Night Steals the Headlines

Emily Engstler is making a case for the WNBA's most complete forward right now. The Louisville alum delivered the performance of her career Friday night, pouring in 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting — an efficiency that bordered on absurd — while adding 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 blocks in Portland's 101-83 demolition of playoff-bound Atlanta. Her plus-minus of +27 told the full story: when Engstler was on the floor, the Fire were a different team.

It wasn't a fluke, either. Engstler bookended the week with a 23-point, 6-rebound outing against Washington on Sunday, Aug. 23, and even in Portland's midweek loss to Dallas, she quietly stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Over three games this week, she averaged 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 2.3 blocks. That's not a hot streak — that's a player arriving.

Fellow Cardinal Carla Leite provided the co-headline Friday, leading the Fire with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting. The two Louisville alums combined for 51 points as Portland shot 58% from the field and snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak. A Cardinal double act dismantling a playoff contender on the road is exactly the kind of night Louisville fans should be circling on the calendar.

Elsewhere in the Cardinal WNBA World

The week wasn't quite as electric for other Louisville alums, though there were still moments worth noting.

Sydney Taylor had her best game of the week Saturday, dropping 13 points for Chicago in a 66-85 loss to New York — a bright spot in a tough result for the Sky. Her earlier appearances (4 points Aug. 25, 4 points Aug. 23) were quieter, but the Saturday showing signals she can still get buckets against top competition.

Dana Evans contributed modestly out of Las Vegas, posting 4 points and 3 assists in the Aces' 93-73 win over the Tempo on Saturday. She'd been held without a stat line in the Aug. 23 matchup against the same team. The Aces are rolling regardless, but Evans will need to carve out more consistent minutes to factor into the stretch run.

Myisha Hines-Allen saw limited action in Indianapolis this week. She played a minor role in the Fever's Friday loss to Connecticut and logged a quiet 5-point, 7-rebound line in Indiana's blowout win over Chicago on Aug. 23. Stephanie White's decisions around Hines-Allen's role have drawn attention — the veteran's path to consistent minutes remains something to watch as the Fever push toward the playoffs.

The Takeaway

This was Engstler's week, full stop. The 25-point, 4-steal, 4-block performance against Atlanta is the kind of box score that gets shared in group chats, and when paired with Leite's own dominant outing, it made for one of the more memorable Louisville-flavored nights the WNBA has seen in recent memory. With the Fire finding their footing and Engstler looking like a genuine two-way force, Cardinals fans have a team worth tracking the rest of the way.

Louisville's fingerprints are all over the WNBA this week, and the most indelible ones belong to Chicago Sky rookie Sydney Taylor — a guard making contenders look ordinary and buzzer-beaters look routine.

Taylor Torments the Liberty, Then Closes Out the Valkyries

The defining moment came Friday night against the Golden State Valkyries. With the game hanging at 70-70, Taylor dribbled out the clock and buried a three just ahead of the buzzer — the kind of shot that separates players who belong from players who know it. Final: Sky 73-70. Taylor finished with 14 points, 2 steals, and a jaw-dropping plus-15, the signature line of someone who was on the floor for every important possession.

That performance didn't come out of nowhere. Earlier in the week, Taylor had already put in work against a far more decorated opponent. In Wednesday's 93-86 Sky win over the New York Liberty — a team with genuine championship ambitions — Taylor logged 9 points, 3 assists, and 2 steals with a plus-7. It was the latest entry in what has become a genuinely uncomfortable pattern for New York. The Liberty, who should be lapping a 13-win Sky squad, have instead found Taylor a persistent, credibility-testing problem. Yahoo Sports noted the rookie's dominance over the title-hopeful franchise as a potential Achilles heel worth watching as the postseason approaches.

Two clutch wins in one week, with Taylor at the center of both. The Louisville pipeline just handed the WNBA a name to know.

Engstler Contributes in a Pair of Fire Outings

Former Cardinal Emily Engstler had a workmanlike week for the Portland Fire. On Sunday, Aug. 16, she helped Portland knock off the Phoenix Mercury 88-85 in a game that doubled as a Diana Taurasi tribute evening — contributing 9 points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds while teammate Carla Leite did the heavy lifting offensively. Engstler returned Saturday against the Tempo, posting 13 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 3 blocks in an 82-79 loss — a well-rounded line that reflects the glue-player role she's carved out on an expansion roster still finding its footing.

Hines-Allen Grinds Through a Tough Week in Indiana

Myisha Hines-Allen's numbers for the Fever were modest across the period. She was held to 4 points and 7 rebounds in Indiana's 109-102 loss to the Liberty on Saturday, and logged just 2 points in a Tuesday win over the Tempo. The bookend games against the Wings (Friday) and Dream (Sunday the 16th) didn't produce a stat line in the brief. It has been a quiet stretch for the veteran forward, whose impact on a Fever team navigating a crowded playoff race has been inconsistent week to week.

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The headline for Louisville this week is unmistakably Taylor. A buzzer-beater to seal a win, a quietly dominant outing against the East's best team, and a growing reputation as a player opposing coaches are circling on the scouting sheet — that's the résumé of a rookie who arrived. Cardinals fans should be watching every Sky game they can find.

Sydney Taylor's Breakout Meets Its First Test

The story of Louisville's week in the WNBA begins and ends with Sydney Taylor — and it's a complicated one.

The Chicago Sky rookie has been one of the feel-good narratives of the 2026 WNBA season. Yahoo Sports ran a feature on Taylor's rapid ascent this week, noting that her debut campaign has been "one to remember" even as Chicago endures another difficult year — one compounded by Rickea Jackson's torn ACL just four games in. Taylor filled the void in ways few rookies could, and the Cardinals faithful had every reason to celebrate one of their own forcing the conversation.

Then came the injury reports.

Heading into Saturday's marquee Fever-Sky matchup — Caitlin Clark and Indiana rolling into Chicago — Taylor's availability was listed as uncertain. The Sky had already flagged her status on Friday, and the final injury report for the game kept her status in question alongside multiple other key players on both rosters. Her stat line for Saturday's game was ultimately blank in the box score, a telling absence as the Fever edged the Sky 90-86.

The week wasn't entirely without Taylor highlights. On Tuesday, Aug. 4 against the Mercury, she posted 14 points, three assists, two rebounds, and a steal with a plus-4 in a 101-106 loss — the kind of performance that earns feature coverage, not footnotes.

The Rest of the Cardinal Contingent

Dana Evans had the most active week of Louisville's WNBA alumni not named Taylor. The Las Vegas Aces guard contributed 11 points, three assists, and five rebounds in Saturday's 87-98 loss to the Lynx, then added two assists in Thursday's 86-84 Aces win over the Fever. She was quiet in Monday's blowout win over the Dream (two points, one assist), but her consistency as a rotation piece remains intact.

Emily Engstler provided real value for the Fire on both ends across two games. In Friday's 93-83 win over the Tempo, she went for 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal with a standout plus-14. She was on the losing end Sunday against the Sparks (7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, minus-6), but the overall week showed why she's carved out a reliable role.

Myisha Hines-Allen was on the floor for the Fever in all three of their games this week but didn't register counting stats that moved the needle — a combined 3 rebounds and 3 assists across the three contests, with a rough minus-11 in Saturday's Sky loss among the lowlights.

The Bottom Line

Taylor's week encapsulates the dual reality of a breakthrough rookie season: the feature coverage is earned, the momentum is real, and then the injury uncertainty creeps in at the worst possible time. Louisville fans will be watching her availability closely as the WNBA regular season heads toward its final stretch. For now, Taylor remains the Cardinals' most compelling WNBA story — healthy or not.