Tina Charles powers Liberty past Storm

SEATTLE – Tina Charles scored 19 points with 13 rebounds and the New York Liberty used a strong third quarter to beat the Seattle Storm 86-78 on Sunday night.

Neither team led by more than five until the Liberty (4-3) went on a 17-2 run in the third to go up 68-51 on Charles’ jumper with 3:14 left in the quarter.

Seattle (3-5) rallied in the fourth quarter with a 15-2 spurt that cut the deficit to 76-73 with 3:45 left. Tanisha Wright answered with back-to-back jumpers against her former team and New York held off the Storm from there.

Sugar Rodgers added 18 points, Shavonte Zellous scored 12 and Brittany Boyd had 10 for the Liberty, ranked No. 4 in the AP WNBA power poll.

Alysha Clark had a career-high 23 points and Ramu Tokashiki added a season-high 15 for eighth-ranked Seattle.

The Storm’s top three scorers, Jewell Loyd, Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, shot 7 of 32 from the field. Bird finished with 13 points and 10 assists, Breanna Stewart grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds but scored a career-low eight points, and Loyd had just three points after scoring a career-high 32 on Friday night.