Storm rallies in second half to beat Monarchs, 74-62

Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and Swin Cash each scored 17 points to help the Seattle Storm rally for a 74-62 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Tuesday night.

Seattle (2-0) used a 30-11 surge beginning midway through the third quarter to erase an early 13-point deficit created by its own poor shooting.

Sheryl Swoopes started the second-half rally and finished with 10 points for her first substantial contribution for the Storm.

Yolanda Griffith scored two points and had five rebounds in 23 minutes of her first game against the Monarchs after nine seasons in Sacramento, including one as league MVP and another with a WNBA championship. Many of the Monarchs embraced Griffith at center court immediately after the game.

Rebekkah Brunson scored 15 points while Nicole Powell and Kara Lawson each had 10 for Sacramento (1-1).

The 37-year-old Swoopes, limited to just three games last season with Houston following back surgery, missed her first six shots and nine of her first 11. But the league's first three-time MVP then sparked Seattle's comeback.

Swoopes put back her own missed jumper, then fed Jackson with a sharp pass in the lane for another basket and made a 3-pointer to cut Sacramento's lead to 38-33.

The Storm finally forged a tie, at 47, in the fourth quarter on Griffith's basket underneath off a pass from Cash with 8:30 remaining. That was after a 3-pointer by Katie Gearlds and a three-point play by Cash, who did not start either half after being away from the team for two days to attend a funeral.

A barrage of 3-pointers, by Bird from the top of the key and then Gearlds from deep on the wing and the corner in front of a stunned Monarchs bench, suddenly put the Storm ahead 56-49 with 5:31 remaining. Jackson followed with a leaning 3 as the shot-clock buzzer blared. That put Seattle up 61-51, and the Storm cruised from there.

Swoopes has 16 points through two games after averaging 16.7 per game during her 11-year career.

The 38-year-old Griffith came out of the locker room looking more like 28. The holder of 24 individual Monarchs records fed passes for baskets. She took two charging fouls, swatted a dribble off a former teammate to force a third Sacramento turnover, and blocked a shot.

And that was just in the first five minutes.

But the six-time All-Star also looked her age at times -- such as on a breakaway layup at the end of the first quarter. Griffith lumbered and was caught from behind by 24-year-old Kim Smith as she missed a flailing layup attempt.

Seattle missed 31 of 40 shots while trailing by as many as 13 in the first half.