Originally published August 11, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified August 11, 2007 at 9:52 PM

Storm rout Mystics after earning playoff spot

Betty Lennox scored a career-high 34 points and Lauren Jackson added 24 to lead the Seattle Storm to a 91-68 victory over the Washington Mystics on Saturday night.

The Associated Press

Betty Lennox scored a career-high 34 points and Lauren Jackson added 24 to lead the Seattle Storm to a 91-68 victory over the Washington Mystics on Saturday night.

Sue Bird added 17 points for the Storm (15-17), who clinched their fourth straight playoff berth earlier in the night when fifth-place Houston lost at San Antonio.

Alana Beard and Monique Currie scored 13 points apiece for Washington (14-16), which snapped a four-game winning streak and had its lead cut to 11/2 games over fifth-place New York in the Eastern Conference. Beard, who came in averaging 21.8 points per game, shot just 3-for-14 from the field.

Jackson, who spent most of the week in Australia visiting her ailing grandmother, scored 16 points in the third quarter -- including 11 during Seattle's 18-0 run to open the period. The Storm were routed in two games -- 95-74 at Minnesota and 97-70 at Detroit -- in Jackson's absence.

Jackson hit a 3-pointer on the Storm's first shot of the third quarter, Lennox hit a short shot from the right of the basket, and Bird had a 3. Jackson added another 3 as Seattle pulled away.

Washington missed its first 13 shots of the quarter and didn't score until 5:57 remained when Currie hit the second of two free-throw attempts. The Mystics didn't make their first field goal of the third until 3:36 was left, on a turnaround five-footer from the right of the hoop by DeLisha Milton-Jones.

Washington, which shot just 6-for-34 in the second and third quarters, trailed 43-38 at halftime.

Lennox scored 17 points in the first quarter and combined with Bird to score 26 of Seattle's 28 points.

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