Storm nearly pull off second-half comeback before losing to Liberty

Even with a 19-point lead, the New York Liberty were expecting the defending champion Seattle Storm to make the game close.

When it happened, the Liberty didn’t panic.

Ann Wauters had 18 points and Becky Hammon added 16 to lead the New York Liberty past the defending champion Seattle Storm 79-67 Saturday night in New York.

Elena Baranova had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Crystal Robinson and Shameka Christon added 11 points apiece for New York, which pulled into a tie with Washington for third place in the Eastern Conference.

Lauren Jackson had 25 points and seven rebounds, and Sue Bird added 12 points and 10 assists for Seattle, which nearly came back from a 19-point deficit in the second half.

Seattle lost its second straight since going on a six-game winning streak.

Leading by 12 at the break, the Liberty pushed their lead to 49-32 just 2 minutes into the second half.

The Storm then slowly chipped away. Bird hit made a 3 and a fast-break layup to cut the deficit to 14 less than a minute later. Jackson then scored seven straight points to make it 67-58 with 4:07 left.

After Baranova hit a 3 to push New York’s lead back to 12, Seattle scored seven straight points to pull within five at 70-65 with 45.7 seconds remaining. That was as close as it got.

The Storm played without second-leading scorer Betty Lennox, who sprained her left wrist late in a loss at Indiana on Thursday.

“We lose Betty’s points, her energy,” Storm coach Anne Donovan said. “She takes a defender away from Lauren. So it changes the flow of our offense for sure.”

Sting 82, Shock 73 (2OT): At Charlotte, N.C., Sheri Sam scored 11 of her 26 points in the two overtimes, and Charlotte snapped a franchise-record 10-game losing streak with an 82-73 over Detroit.

Sam hit a jumper that started a game-ending 9-0 run and gave Charlotte its first win since July 7 and delivered Muggsy Bogues his first victory as Sting coach.

Tangela Smith added 22 points as Charlotte (4-22) overcame 37-percent shooting for the win.

Deanna Nolan scored 20 points in 47 minutes for the Shock.

Sun 74, Fever 65: At Indianapolis, Nykesha Sales matched her season high with 26 points and Taj McWilliams-Franklin had 14 points and 12 rebounds helping the Connecticut Sun to a 74-65 win over the Indiana Fever.

Connecticut overcame a 10-point, first-half deficit and 20 turnovers, opening a 4 1/2 -game lead over the Fever in the Eastern Conference.

Tamika Catchings led Indiana with 17 points and 13 rebounds and became the fastest player in WNBA history to get 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 400 assists and 300 steals. It took the Indiana All-Star 125 games to reach the milestone, raising her rebound total to 1,002. Sheryl Swoopes accomplished the feat in her 191st game.

Catchings has 2,207 points, 1,002 rebounds, 454 assists and 307 steals.