Storm toughs one out against Indiana

SEATTLE —

There wasn't a celebration.

Not because the Storm didn't think one was deserved, but because none of the key players had the energy to even hoot after defeating Indiana 85-81 on Friday at KeyArena.

In the Seattle locker room, Sue Bird sat in a chair, icing her left knee. Lauren Jackson slumped at her corner locker. And Swin Cash, who's suffering from a sinus infection, walked around with her eyes half open. Combined, the trio rested just eight minutes; Cash played all the way through the roughest game yet this season.

"Everyone just breathed a sigh of relief," said Jackson, who finished with a team-high 28 points and seven rebounds. "After that game we didn't really feel that great winning atmosphere in here. Everyone is a bit battered, happy we won and very aware how close we were to losing, too."

The Storm (12-2) trailed 60-49 after Fever forward Tamika Catchings converted her own steal into a fast-break layup with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter. The tension in the arena was palpable as Seattle struggled against Indiana's league-leading defense — an uncomfortable experience for the Storm, which didn't need as much effort in winning its previous seven games at home.

But the Storm, wanting to be known as a defensive menace itself, dug deeper and held the Fever scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, getting six free throws and a layin by Cash to pull within 60-58.

In the fourth quarter, Bird made three three-pointers in a span of 2 minutes, 30 seconds to help put Seattle ahead 71-70 with 4:24 left. Fever forward Katie Douglas helped her team inch within 80-78 following two free throws, but Jackson made a miraculous reverse layin underneath the hoop with 19.3 seconds left to ice the game.

The circus play was off a pass from guard Tanisha Wright, who finished with a career-high 10 assists.

"I was stuck a little bit," said Wright of the lob pass to Jackson. "But I saw that Lauren had a smaller post player on her and I just tried to put it up where only she could get it. Fortunately, she went up, got it, brought it back down, composed herself and made the basket.

"I was pretty confident, there was only five seconds left on the (shooting) clock, anyway."

Jackson agreed: "It was perfect, straight over the defense into my hands," she said of the pass.

The Fever (8-5) had chances at the end to extend its winning streak to four games. With 12 seconds left, Spokane native Briann January had the ball inside the paint but passed it right to Wright — one of 18 Indiana turnovers, which Seattle converted into 25 points.

January hunched over at halfcourt and breathed heavily as Wright, who was fouled in transition, made one of two ensuing free throws.

"You could see the frustration, disappointment in her body language," said Tully Bevilaqua, who had a few words of encouragement for her teammate. "We've got a long season ahead of us and you've got to put this in the closet now. It's done. But we're probably seeing the team that's going to be challenging for the WNBA title right now."

Douglas sparked Indiana's hot first half, scoring 19 of her 29 points before the break. She was only slowed by Cash's defense against her in the second half.

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com

INDIANA		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Catchings	33:30	7-13	2-3	1-5	5	6	17
Hoffman	14:19	2-7	0-0	1-2	1	1	4
Sttn-Brown	21:11	1-4	0-0	1-3	2	2	2
Douglas	35:50	9-14	8-10	0-1	3	3	29
Bevilaqua	27:03	2-3	0-0	0-4	2	4	5
January	17:07	0-3	2-2	1-2	2	3	2
Moore	8:21	1-2	2-2	1-2	0	1	4
Davenport	11:50	2-2	0-0	0-0	1	3	4
Murphy	4:57	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Zellous	6:57	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	2	0
Morris	18:55	5-8	0-1	0-3	0	1	14
Totals		29-56	14-18	5-23	16	26	81

Percentages: FG .518, FT .778. Three-point goals: 9-17, .529 (Morris 4-5, Douglas 3-5, Bevilaqua 1-2, Catchings 1-3, Hoffman 0-2). Team rebounds: 5. Team turnovers: 18 (25 PTS). Blocked shots: 5 (Catchings 2, Davenport 2, Sutton-Brown). Turnovers: 17 (Davenport 4, Sutton-Brown 3, Bevilaqua 2, Douglas 2, Hoffman, January, Moore, Morris, Murphy, Zellous). Steals: 7 (Catchings 4, Douglas, January, Zellous). Technical fouls: Zellous, 0:58.1 third.

SEATTLE		fg	ft
min		m-a	m-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Cash	40:00	6-13	7-12	2-6	3	3	21
Jackson	37:14	9-11	6-6	4-7	0	3	28
Little	30:15	4-11	2-4	2-6	2	3	10
Bird	35:31	6-10	0-0	0-2	4	1	16
Wright	28:20	2-5	3-6	1-2	10	5	7
Willingham	10:47	1-2	0-2	1-4	1	1	2
Abrosimova	15:39	0-2	1-2	3-4	0	2	1
Robinson	1:44	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Lacey	0:30	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Totals		28-54	19-32	13-31	20	18	85

Percentages: FG .519, FT .594. Three-point goals: 10-15, .667 (Jackson 4-4, Bird 4-5, Cash 2-4, Little 0-1, Wright 0-1). Team rebounds: 11. Team turnovers: 20 (15 PTS). Blocked shots: 4 (Jackson 2, Cash, Robinson). Turnovers: 18 (Bird 3, Cash 3, Little 3, Willingham 3, Wright 3, Jackson 2, Abrosimova). Steals: 9 (Bird 2, Cash 2, Little 2, Jackson, Willingham, Wright). Technical fouls: Coach Agler, 9:20 third.

Indiana	20	29	11	21 — 81
Seattle	27	16	15	27 — 85

Attendance: 9,083 (9,686). Time: 2:06. Officials: Clarke Stevens, Ginter Felicia, Tom Mauer.