Top > Sport > 2005 > August > 2005-08-30

Storm grab West`s No. 2 seed

The Seattle Storm earned home-court advantage and perhaps a psychological boost in beating the Sacramento Monarchs last Thursday night. Janell Burse scored 17 points, and Lauren Jackson added 14 as Seattle defeated Sacramento 76-63, clinching second place in the WNBA`s Western Conference. Seattle (19-14) improved to 13-3 at home -- second best in the league -- and won its eighth straight home game. More importantly, the Storm will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Seattle`s opponent was not be determined until Saturday.

Iziane Castro Marques added 13 points and Bird had 12 for the Storm, who took the season series from Sacramento 2-1. Storm coach Anne Donovan believes beating the Monarchs twice might have as much of a benefit as holding home court. The Monarchs (24-9) came in with a four-game winning streak, but fell a half-game behind Connecticut for the best record in the league. Nicole Powell led Sacramento with 17 points, but Sacramento shot just 33 percent. Center Yolanda Griffith was also held in check, making just 3-of-15 shots, and scoring seven points. She had 26 points when the teams played last Saturday.

Seattle appeared on its way to an easy victory, scoring a season-high 49 first-half points, and leading by 15 early in the second half. Instead, Sacramento increased the defensive pressure and rattled the Storm. Seattle scored just 13 points the first 13 minutes of the half. With the Monarchs trailing 63-54, Powell made a 3-pointer, and then three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Leading 64-60 with 5:36 remaining, Seattle scored the next 11 points to go up by 15 with 2:30 to go. Jackson had five points in the run.

Unlike their meeting of five days earlier, the Storm took control early and forced the Monarchs to play from behind. On Saturday, Sacramento beat Seattle 75-65 after taking a 10-point first-half lead. Seattle led 37-24 on a 3-pointer by Bird with 5:22 left in the half. Sacramento cut the lead to 42-38 with 1:56 to go, but Seattle scored the final seven points of the half, capped by Bird`s three-point play -- a banked 18-footer -- with less than a second to go. Sacramento played without reserve guard Kara Lawson, who injured her left shoulder in the closing seconds of the Monarchs 76-70 win over Phoenix on Tuesday.