Bennie Mae Collins / Guards the guards, and forwards, too

Bennie Mae Collins is 81, and she's got game. Just ask Seattle Storm forward Lauren Jackson: "I love her. Every game since I've been here she always gives me a hug and a smile. She's loved by all the girls."

WNBA powerhouse Jackson practically has to fold herself in half to wrap her arms around this woman who is 56 years older than the twentysomething athlete she guards.

Guards Lauren Jackson?

That's right. Bennie Mae Collins clocks in for work at 5 p.m. and takes her post outside the home-team locker room at KeyArena. And she stands there — straight and alert in her forest-green KeyArena staff sweater with her gray-white hair in a twist — until the last player is out of the showers. "10:15 p.m. or so. If they lose, it might take a little longer," she says. This octogenarian with a soft voice and gentle touch will be the sentry for the Sonics when their (final?) season begins in October.

"You have to say what you mean and try to carry it out," she says of the guarding game.

Collins has worked at the Seattle Center since 1978. But, really, Collins has been working her whole life — "takin' care of people mostly. I was carrying my daughter when I worked at the laundry," she says. That was 1947. But that was here. Before leaving Shreveport, La., there also was a hospital job.

After the laundry came work with the Salvation Army and the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, a job she held while she also took care of her ill husband. He suffered from emphysema for 12 years before passing away at age 63. "I took him to the hospital, and I went on to work. He said, 'I hate to see you have to work so hard.' "

Collins also has raised seven kids and three of her 13 grandkids. So it's only natural that the players call her "Mom." She is the only person to guard the home-team locker room since KeyArena opened 11 years ago.

"The thing about Bennie is, she's the last person we see before we go out to the game," says Storm guard Sue Bird. "We have a little huddle before we go out there, and sometimes we put her in it. She's a staple for us. She's always there."

Besides what she calls "wear-and-tear-mostly" ailments, she says she's doing pretty well, thank you. People live a long time in her family: 103, 101, 97. Like that. "I just tell people to keep active. Go to the doctor and get checked out. Get fresh air every day. Eat lots of vegetables."

And retirement?

"I just might retire if there's not enough work for me (should the Sonics and Storm move to Oklahoma City). It wouldn't be the same if they weren't here."