Storm defeat Sparks without star Jackson

Betty Lennox scored 27 points and the Seattle Storm beat Los Angeles 75-67 Wednesday night, snapping the Sparks’ eight-game winning streak.

Sue Bird added 11 points for Seattle (9-8), which played without Lauren Jackson. The All-Star forward, who has played through a stress fracture in her left shin since she was a teenager, missed her first game since September 2004.

The Storm used a 9-0 run over the first 2-plus minutes of the second quarter to open a 28-15 lead and led by double digits the rest of the game.

Tamara Moore scored 16 points to lead the Sparks (11-4). Lisa Leslie had 15 points and Chamique Holdsclaw added 10. Leslie, coming off a career-high 41-point performance against San Antonio on Sunday, played just 18 minutes because of foul trouble.

The Storm led 39-28 at halftime and then pushed their advantage to 17 twice in the game.

Leslie picked up her third foul with 7:32 left in the second quarter, and then drew her fourth on a charge on the Sparks’ next trip down the floor. She left the game with 6:19 left, having scored nine of the Sparks’ first 15 points, but remained on the bench for the rest of the half as the Sparks struggled to get into an offensive rhythm.

Mercury 81, Lynx 78: At Phoenix, Cappie Pondexter hit a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left then stole the inbound pass to lift Phoenix past Minnesota.

Seimone Augustus had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Lynx, who have lost four of their last five.

Kelly Miller added 17 points and seven rebounds for Phoenix.