Storm cruises to easy win over faltering Liberty

The giddy cartwheels during the pregame were the first clue.

Storm center Janell Burse kicked off her shoes to do cartwheels for the crowd before the game and kept the playful nature rolling against New York, plucking rebounds like apples from a tree while All-Star Lauren Jackson scored with ease to help the Storm to an 86-66 win Friday at KeyArena.

Burse recorded her sixth career double-double with 3:43 remaining the second quarter, making two free throws to put the Storm up 41-20. She had eight rebounds in the first quarter alone, finishing the opening half with 10 in each category.

"My sister and I had a trampoline and we would always flip on it," said Burse of her background in gymnastics. "So, Betty [Lennox] and I, we always do these crazy MTV-style bets, like 'I'll give you 100 bucks if you do this.' She said 'I'll give you 100 bucks if you do two cartwheels and act like a gymnast.' I was like, 'Eh, it's going to be embarrassing,' but I did it.

"Anytime we're laughing and having fun, it carries over. We need that because it is a game. It's our job at the same time, but if we can have fun while we're doing it, it makes it that much easier."

Lennox agreed.

"That's the main reason why she had a good game, because I made a bet," said Lennox, who came close to a double-double of her own with 13 points and eight rebounds. "Now I gotta pay her $100. But to me, it's good to laugh and then go out and play. You can't always play with a lot of stuff balled up inside. It can be a lot of negative when your record is 10-9."

The actual game was a laugher from the opening tip.

The Liberty (4-15) played without veteran guard Becky Hammon, who stayed in New York to rehabilitate a sprained left ankle, leaving a team already on a five-game losing streak without anyone to take control of the offense.

New York had only one assist on 8-for-32 shooting in the opening half.

If it weren't for the Storm (11-9) reserves giving up 16 points on 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter alone, the Liberty would have traveled to its next destination with a 40-point defeat.

But the Storm didn't care.

Despite leading 73-44 after three quarters and the visitors obviously having no chance to chip their way back in the game, unlike when the Storm trailed by 31 points to Indiana on Sunday, Storm coach Anne Donovan kept her starters in the game. Jackson was the final starter to take a seat with 8:26 remaining, receiving a standing ovation for her 26-point, eight-rebound effort in 21 minutes.

Jackson, who joined guard Sue Bird at the All-Star Game in New York earlier this week, thrust her fist into the air after baskets and charged inside for rebounds as if she were playing the Eastern Conference's best team, not one of its worst.

Considering the Storm's next opponent is East-leading Connecticut (14-5) on Sunday, it was good Seattle could oil any rust against an inferior opponent. In fact, five of the Storm's next seven games are against Eastern Conference teams.

Seattle also caught a big break Friday night when San Antonio (10-10), which began the night tied with the Storm for the West's fourth and final playoff spot, surprisingly lost to the Charlotte Sting (4-16).

"We've had a pretty tough road of late, and we just need to get the win right now," said Jackson, whose team's biggest lead Friday was 32 points. "The games against the East, we need to get those wins. I mean, we definitely need to get them. And at the moment we've got to focus on what our main goal is, which is to win a championship.

"We need to work every day toward that and give it everything we've got."

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