Storm win opener

Lauren Jackson had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Seattle Storm to a 75-67 victory over the Houston Comets in the opener Tuesday night of their first-round WNBA playoff series in Houston.

Nursing a sore back, Jackson made 6 of 13 shots and helped the defending champions take a 1-0 lead back to Seattle for Thursday’s Game 2 in the best-of-3 series.

The Storm blew an 11-point lead in the second half, but recovered in time to stop the Comets, who are looking for their first playoff series victory since 2000.

Betty Lennox added 18 points, making 9 of 10 free throws.

Michelle Snow scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half to give the Comets a 50-48 lead with 9:21 left. But the Storm used a 12-3 spurt to take control of the game and never trailed again.

Sheryl Swoopes added 15 points for the Comets.

Seattle opened the game with a 23-10 surge as Jackson scored 10 of the team’s first 17 points. But the Comets responded with a 9-2 spurt to get back in the game and trailed just 33-28 at halftime.

Thompson and Swoopes combined to make just 6 of 20 shots in the opening half, but Dominique Canty made each of her four free throws to help Houston stay close.

Reserve Tanisha Wright scored seven points for the Storm and was 5 for 5 from the free-throw line.

Fever 63, Liberty 51: At New York, Tamika Catchings had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Tully Bevilaqua added 14 points to lead Indiana over the Liberty in the opener of their first-round series.

Deanna Jackson had nine points, including a pair of tiebreaking free throws with 2:59 remaining as Indiana closed the game with a 14-2 surge after the Liberty came back from a 10-point deficit.

Game 2 in the series is Thursday at Indianapolis.