Storm rallies for home victory

The KeyArena sweet spot must be in front of the visitors' bench.

That's where Storm guard Katie Gearlds lurked on Tuesday, waiting for the ball. When she got it, Gearlds fired in three-pointers. Three times, in fact, during a game-changing run against Sacramento that helped the Storm collect a 74-62 win.

"That's what I get paid to do," said Gearlds, a second-year shooter from Purdue who scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter. "Fortunately my teammates found me and I was able to knock them down and spark a little run."

Seattle trailed 45-39 after three quarters, but went on a 22-6 run to open the fourth quarter. The avalanche included five three-pointers, three by Gearlds plus one each by Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird.

Gearlds made the first, a wide-open shot, off a feed from forward Swin Cash. The second three-pointer was from Bird at the top of the key. Then Bird found Gearlds twice in front of the Monarchs bench, screaming at the top of her lungs as her teammate's third attempt flushed through the net.

"I did see her in the corner, but the play wasn't for that," said Bird of Gearlds' final three. "I had nothing to do with it. I just happened to be the one passing it. We were joking about that. Those weren't easy shots. Maybe the one in transition, but there were people in her face. She was ready and she was confident. That's something you've seen a lot more this year, just in two games."

Gearlds made a career-high four three-pointers in a June road win against Chicago last season. Yet, her offensive play was inconsistent. This season, with a revamped Storm roster and coaching staff, Gearlds has become the scoring threat predicted when she was drafted seventh overall in 2007.

"She's unreal," said Jackson, who nailed the fifth three of the quarter to make the score 61-51 with 3:50 remaining in the game. "I mean, she's a shooter. We saw it against Chicago last year and tonight when she hit those massive threes. That's what she does and it's great this early on in the season that she gets an opportunity to do it."

The Monarchs built a 13-point lead in the opening half.

Seattle, not making a good early impression on an ESPN2 national audience, finally clicked in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Monarchs 35-17.

It's the second time in as many games the Storm utilized a second-half surge to win. In the season opener against Chicago on Saturday, the Storm shot 29 percent and needed a 23-1 run in the second half to win.

"It just clicks in that we might lose the game and everyone goes, 'Oh! Maybe we should play now. Maybe we should knock down a few shots,' " said Jackson, adding that the team is also still getting to know each other. "When our backs are against the wall, we just play well. Something just kicks in."

Jackson, Bird and Cash led the Storm in scoring with 17 points apiece.

Seattle (2-0) leaves today for a two-game trip against defending champion Phoenix and San Antonio, which swept Seattle in four games in 2007. The Storm was just 5-12 on the road last season, and will not have the KeyArena crowd that boosted its energy in its first two games of this season.

Nearly 7,000 fans pleading for a win helped the Storm on Tuesday.

"Seattle is a great team with a lot of weapons and a lot of players who are used to stepping up," said Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek, who at times had three rookies on the court. "We're not quite there yet. We have a long way to go, there's no question. We're on a steep learning curve."

Sacramento (1-1) is historically a tough matchup for Seattle.

But the Storm signed the Monarchs' biggest star, center Yolanda Griffith, this offseason.

Griffith tied the score at 47 with 8:25 remaining, flinging her fist in the air in excitement.

"Eventually it's going to happen, we're going to be clicking in the beginning of the game and not in the third quarter," Griffith said.

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