WNBA : Storm go down drain

Shanna Crossley scored all 14 of her points in the fourth quarter to lead the San Antonio Silver Stars to a 78-68 victory over the Seattle Storm on Saturday night in Seattle.

Crossley made four 3-pointers in the final quarter to help the Silver Stars build a 20-point lead. It was the second victory in eight days for San Antonio over the Storm.

Lauren Jackson had 20 points and 14 rebounds for Seattle. Iziane Castro Marques added 10 points.

Vickie Johnson added 13 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio.

Crossley, a reserve who averaged 11.4 points per game in the first five games, took control in the final quarter. She made a 3-pointer after a steal and hit another one as she fell to the floor with Jackson in her face.

Becky Hammon, who played eight seasons in New York before being traded before this season to San Antonio, had 12 points. Hammon had scored more than 20 points in the previous three games.

One Storm fan showed his support for Jackson, of Australia, by holding up a 4-foot plastic kangaroo every time Jackson scored.

Riley scored 11 points in the first quarter for the Silver Stars, hitting all four of her shots from the field.

Seattle shot only 38 percent from the field.

Sun 76, Mercury 67: At Uncasville, Conn., Asjha Jones scored 11 of Connecticut’s first 15 points and finished with 24 in the Sun’s victory over Phoenix.

Connecticut led throughout the game, pulling away to a 13-2 advantage. Phoenix cut it to 20-15 at the end of the first quarter but never got any closer.

Another key for Connecticut was containing Diana Taurasi, the former Connecticut star who was 1 of 3 in the first quarter and attempted just two shots in the second. Taurasi finished with 13 points.

Shock 77, Comets 71: At Houston, Katie Smith scored 13 of her 17 points in the final 11 minutes, Cheryl Ford and Swin Cash each had double-doubles, and unbeaten Detroit rallied from a late nine-point deficit to beat the Comets.

Ford had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Cash chipped in 14 points and 10 boards for defending WNBA champion Detroit. The Shock finished the game on an 18-3 run in the final 3:47 after going more than 5 minutes without a field goal earlier in the fourth quarter.

Monarchs 88, Sparks 85: At Sacramento, Calif., Nicole Powell had 19 points and eight rebounds, Kara Lawson scored 14 points and Sacramento beat Los Angeles in their home opener.

Ticha Penicheiro scored 14 points for the Monarchs, who hung on through a tight fourth quarter with balanced scoring after losing leading-scorer DeMya Walker in the opening minutes with a right knee injury.

Rookie Sidney Spencer had 15 of her 22 points in the second quarter for Los Angeles, which got within 80-79 with 2:05 to play on a layup by Marta Fernandez, who had 15 points.