Storm claims spot in WNBA playoffs

CHICAGO — There's clinching a playoff berth, and there's doing it with the gutty style of a 9-0 game-ending run.

The Storm claimed its fifth consecutive playoff spot and took solo possession of first in the Western Conference with a 70-62 victory over the Chicago Sky before 3,829 at the UIC Pavilion Thursday night.

"The longest we held first was something like 13 hours," Sue Bird said. "Hopefully, we can hold it longer than that."

Bird scored 13 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter for the Storm (20-10), which trailed by as much as 12 in the second quarter and by 10 midway through the third.

The Storm took its first lead of the game, 54-52, at 8:54 in the fourth on a three-pointer by Bird.

"Sue Bird is an Olympic gold-medalist and she will make you pay," Sky coach Steven Key said.

Her jumper was part of an 11-0 run, keyed by a three-point play by Camille Little, that eventually stretched the lead to 56-52.

"We were persistent in our play," Storm coach Brian Agler said. "She was persistent in her play. [Bird] is as smart a player as I have been around."

Little finished with 13 points. The lead seesawed until Bird hit another three for a 64-62 lead with 3:05 remaining, a lead the Storm never surrendered.

"Bird lit us up," Sky forward Candice Dupree said. "If Bird didn't score, she could get the ball to her open teammates."

Yolanda Griffith's block set up Bird's three, which started the 9-0 game-ending run. Griffith also added a rebound and a layup in the closing run and finished with eight of her 10 points in the second half.

"We didn't come out with our normal aggressiveness and it took time for us to turn it around," Bird said. "We were lucky at the half to only be down five [34-29]."

It didn't start that rosy for the Storm.

The Storm had no answer for Jia Perkins, the red-hot guard for the Sky. The Eastern Conference's Player of the Week continued her award-winning pace with 22 points. She scored half the Sky's points as Chicago built a 20-10 lead at the end of the first half.

The Sky (11-18) won its first three games after the Olympic break and is fighting for its playoff life. Chicago came into the game trailing Indiana by 11/2 games for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East.