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Jackson scores 20 to lift Storm over Sparks 75-62

Jul 4, 2010 - 12:21 AM LOS ANGELES(AP) -- Lauren Jackson had 20 points and eight rebounds to lead the Seattle Storm to a 75-62 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday.

Swin Cash added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Sue Bird had 11 points and seven assists for the Storm (15-2), who won their sixth consecutive game.

Kristi Toliver scored 18 points for the Sparks (4-12), who have lost five of six. DeLisha Milton-Jones added 14 points and Tina Thompson had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Seattle opened the game with a 13-0 run over the first 3:36 and hit 11 of 16 shots in the quarter.

"Seattle was streaking hot," Los Angeles coach Jennifer Gillom said. "They just came out on fire. They were making shots with an opponent's hand in their faces. When teams are hot like that, there's not a whole lot you can do."

Jackson scored 13 points in the opening quarter.

"We were just playing the way we've been playing all season," she said, "just running and getting shots up early."

The Sparks, who trailed by as many as 16 points, narrowed the deficit to 60-57 with 7:37 to play, but the Storm responded with a 10-0 spurt to build a 70-57 lead with 5:30 left.

"I think that's the best they've ever played against us as a team this season," Jackson said. "Everybody was stepping up and getting baskets."

Bird said the reason for the Storm's ability to repel the Sparks was simple.

"One reason that we're so good right now is that we're able to react to those things and handle them," Bird said. "It really just boiled down to taking care of the ball, hitting timely shots and getting stops when we needed them."