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Saturday, July 28, 2007 - Page updated at 02:05 AM

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Jackson hits No. 4,000 in Storm win over Indiana

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ELAINE THOMPSON / AP

Seattle's Sue Bird, left, keeps the ball in play past Indiana's Sheri Sam as the Storm won for the second time in three games. And it came easy as Seattle led 50-27 at half, and increased that margin through the third quarter to 78-48.

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ELAINE THOMPSON / AP

Lauren Jackson continues to dominate the WNBA, with 27 points, on 10-for-14 shooting, and 10 rebounds.

Lauren Jackson became the youngest, and fastest player in WNBA history to reach 4,000 points Friday night, and finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds in the Storm's 89-75 victory over Indiana.

Jackson, coming off a record-tying 47-point performance Tuesday night against Washington that matched Diana Taurasi's league record set a season ago, finished two points shy of matching Cynthia Cooper's mark for the highest two-game total.

Jackson needed just 14 points to become the fifth player in league history to reach the milestone. She didn't waste much time, reaching the mark with 6:13 left in the second quarter on a turnaround baseline jumper. She was given a standing ovation and a video tribute at the next break.

"It was a relief," Jackson said. "There was such a big deal made about it, I was kind of nervous before the game."

Jackson joined Katie Smith, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Lisa Leslie in the 4,000-point club. Leslie reached the mark in 230 games, but it took Jackson just 209. Thompson was the youngest to accomplish the feat at age 31, but Jackson is just 26.

"It happened so quickly and it was in the flow. She just continues to dominate, doesn't she?" said Anne Donovan, the Storm coach.

"Lauren is completely dominating. It's on both ends of the floor and it hasn't been in the past. She's always been very efficient offensively, and defensively she's been a good player and this year she's become a great player," Donovan said.

Indiana coach Brian Winters also was impressed.

"She's going to pass a lot of records before she's done," Winters said. "She's a terrific player and scores from everywhere — inside, outside, all different ways. Obviously she's one of the top players in the world, if not the top player."

And she's become a big headache for opposing coaches and players.

"She's hard to guard because she plays a power forward position and can take slower players out on the floor," Winters said. "If you put a smaller person on her she can take them inside and post her. She's highly skilled and highly talented. And I think she's probably in the best condition I've ever seen her in. She's terrific."

For Jackson, the big achievement for the night was that Seattle (13-12) won for the second time in three games.

"We just knew that we had to win," Jackson said. "We were unselfish at the beginning of the game, and everyone just came out to win. That's how we need to be the last nine games."

Friday's box

INDIANA
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Sam 17:23 2-4 0-0 0-2 1 2 4
Whitmore 12:40 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 2 2
Sutton-Brown 20:32 1-7 8-10 2-5 0 2 10
DeForge 20:22 5-10 1-2 2-4 0 0 12
Bevilaqua 21:11 2-4 1-2 0-1 1 3 5
White 26:01 5-12 0-0 0-3 4 2 10
Hoffman 25:25 2-4 0-0 1-4 0 2 4
Terry 9:03 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 6 0
Sharp 20:51 3-8 2-2 0-2 2 1 8
Strother 14:12 4-8 2-2 3-4 2 0 11
Bales 12:20 4-5 1-2 1-4 0 1 9
Totals 29-65 15-20 10-31 10 21 75

Percentages: FG .446, FT .750. Three-point goals: 2-10, .200 (Strother 1-2, DeForge 1-3, Bevilaqua 0-1, Sharp 0-1, Sam 0-1, White 0-2). Team rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 24 (28 PTS). Blocked shots: 3 (Hoffman, Bales, Sam). Turnovers: 22 (White 6, DeForge 4, Terry 4, Bevilaqua 3, Sam 2, Sharp, Whitmore, Sutton-Brown). Steals: 11 (Sharp 4, Sutton-Brown 3, White 2, Bales, Sam). Technical fouls: None.

SEATTLE
min fgm-a ftm-a or-t a pf pts
Jackson 30:25 10-14 6-6 1-10 3 3 27
Castro Marqs 21:47 5-10 0-0 1-2 3 0 13
Burse 20:53 2-7 2-2 2-3 0 3 6
Lennox 29:35 4-11 6-8 1-2 5 1 14
Bird 26:56 3-3 0-0 0-1 3 1 7
Wright 17:11 2-4 0-0 0-2 2 2 5
Palmer-Daniel 15:13 3-6 4-4 2-5 2 1 10
Ely 13:59 1-1 2-2 1-4 0 4 4
Gearlds 9:39 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Robinson 8:04 0-1 1-2 0-2 0 2 1
Hodges-Lewis 6:18 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Totals 31-62 21-24 8-31 19 18 89
Percentages: FG .500, FT .875. Three-point goals: 6-14, .429 (Castro Marques 3-5, Bird 1-1, Wright 1-1, Jackson 1-3, Lennox 0-1, Gearlds 0-1, Palmer-Daniel 0-2). Team rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers: 21 (18 PTS). Blocked shots: 9 (Burse 3, Robinson 3, Jackson, Lennox, Palmer-Daniel). Turnovers: 20 (Bird 4, Lennox 3, Palmer-Daniel 3, Hodges-Lewis 3, Jackson 2, Wright 2, Ely 2, Gearlds). Steals: 9 (Jackson 2, Lennox 2, Wright 2, Bird, Castro Marques, Ely). Technical fouls: None.
Indiana 16 11 21 27 — 75
Seattle 26 24 28 11 — 89
Attendance: 8,052 (9,686). Time: 1:57. Officials: Kurt Walker, Tony Dawkins, Roy Gulbeyan.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

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