Jackson, Bird lead Storm to victory over Monarchs

Lauren Jackson had 18 points and six rebounds, and Sue Bird scored 14 points in the visiting Seattle Storm’s 66-63 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Thursday.

Sheri Sam scored eight points for the Storm, who pulled away with a 16-5 run late in the second half for their third straight win over Sacramento. Seattle also moved within 1 1/2 games of Los Angeles for the WNBA’s best record.

Jackson surpassed 2,000 career points with a 3-pointer late in the first halfMystics 68, Sting 54: At Washington, Chamique Holdsclaw scored 19 points and Tamicha Jackson added 12 points as Washington equaled its win total (nine) from last season.

Comets 97, Shock 61: At Houston, Tina Thompson scored 21 of her 33 points in the first half as the Comets ended a five-game losing streak.

Lynx 69, Liberty 66: At New York, Katie Smith scored seven of her 12 points over the final 2 minutes. Vanessa Hayden, Amber Jacobs and Nicole Ohlde each added 11 points to help Minnesota win its fourth consecutive game.

Silver Stars 78, Sun 67: At San Antonio, LaToya Thomas had a season-high 23 points and Agnieszka Bibrzycka a career-high 19 in pacing San Antonio past Connecticut.