Football
Associated Press 17y

Lennox posts career-best 34, Jackson returns as Seattle cruises

SEATTLE -- Lauren Jackson was carrying more than just a
basketball burden on Saturday night. The Seattle Storm star also
was bearing the emotional load of her grandmother's death because
of a stroke.

Despite that, Jackson found her shot in the third quarter as
Seattle secured a WNBA playoff spot with a 91-68 victory over the
Washington Mystics. Jackson hit 5 of 7 from the floor and scored 16
of her 24 points in the third, including 11 during an 18-0 run to
start the quarter.

"It has been a hard week emotionally,'' said Jackson, who left
for Australia last Sunday and returned to Seattle on Friday
afternoon, missing the Storm's blowout losses at Minnesota and
Detroit.

"I went through it before [in 2004], but it's no easier. I was
lucky I got the week [to go home]. That's the hardest thing about
being on the other side of the world.''

Jackson's grandmother died Friday afternoon in Sydney at age 91.

"I told her I would carry it tonight,'' said Seattle guard
Betty Lennox, who did just that with a career-high 34 points.
Seventeen of those were during the first quarter, when she and
backcourt mate Sue Bird combined for 26 of the Storm's 28 points.

"I just appreciate her coming back and being on the court with
us tonight.''

Lennox shot 12 of 18 from the floor and 10 of 12 from the line
for the game.

Bird added 17 points for the Storm (15-17), who clinched their
fourth straight playoff berth earlier in the night when fifth-place
Houston lost at San Antonio.

Alana Beard and Monique Currie scored 13 points apiece for
Washington (14-16), which snapped a four-game winning streak and
had its lead cut to 1½ games over fifth-place New York in the
Eastern Conference. Beard, who came in averaging 21.8 points per
game, shot just 3-for-14 from the field.

Jackson, who tied a league scoring record with 47 points in the
Storm's 97-96 overtime loss at Washington on July 24, hit a
3-pointer on the Storm's first shot of the third quarter. Lennox
then hit a short shot from the right of the basket, and Bird had a
3. Jackson added another 3 as Seattle pulled away.

Washington missed its first 13 shots of the quarter and didn't
score until 5:57 remained when Currie hit the second of two
free-throw attempts. The Mystics didn't make their first field goal
of the third until 3:36 was left, on a turnaround 5-footer from
the right of the hoop by DeLisha Milton-Jones.

"We had lost our momentum in the third quarter in some games,''
Storm coach Anne Donovan said. "We started the game and started
the second half really pushing the tempo. We're at our best when
we're in transition.''

Washington, which shot just 6-for-34 in the second and third
quarters, trailed 43-38 at halftime.

"They're a good team, and with Lauren back, they are a much
different team,'' Mystics coach Tree Rollins said. "And we had
trouble in the first half with our forwards. [Jackson] is way too
much for most of our fives, and was in her zone tonight.''

"They came out in the second half determined and got us back on
our heels,'' Currie said. "We couldn't compete with that.''

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