NEW YORK, July 22 (AP) -- Sue Bird's 3-pointer with 10.6 seconds left, her only points of the game, lifted the Seattle Storm to a 77-75 victory over the New York Liberty on Sunday.
"The minute it left I knew it was good. It was right on line,'' said Bird, who missed her first six shots - including four 3s. "I know it's a cliche', but if you miss your last 10 (shots) you're going to make your next 10. You got to keep shooting. I'm glad I had the opportunity and I'm glad I made it.
Lauren Jackson had 23 points and 17 rebounds, and Iziane Castro Marques also scored 23 points for Seattle (12-11), which ended a three-game losing streak. Janell Burse added 10 points.
"The plan was to get the ball to Izzy and draw the defense to get an open shot,'' Storm coach Anne Donovan said of the winning shot. "I think for the majority of the game Sue did not look super confident taking her shot. It was probably one reason why (the Liberty) went to a zone and stayed in the zone.''
Bird was playing in her second game since having knee surgery on July 6. She returned on Friday night at Connecticut and had seven points on 3-for-14 shooting in a loss to the Sun.
"The knee feels good,'' Bird said. "I am trying to get my conditioning back and get back in synch. I am getting my confidence back, not just in shooting but my overall game.''
Erin Thorn, Loree Moore and Janel McCarville each had 16 points for the Liberty (10-12), who lost their fourth straight. Cathrine Kraayeveld and Ashley Battle scored 10 apiece.
"If we didn't play hard, that would be frustrating,'' Liberty coach Pat Coyle said. "We put ourselves in a position to win. The lessons that we're learning now are going to pay off. I just hope they pay off soon.''
Jackson scored six straight points to push Seattle's lead to 72-63 with 3:17 to go. New York responded with a 12-2 run, taking a 75-74 lead on McCarville's layup with 30.7 seconds left.
After Bird hit her go-ahead 3, McCarville missed a contested layup under the basket with 2 seconds left, Thorn got the rebound and missed a layup attempt of her own.
"We shouldn't have let it get to that point,'' Moore said. "We had opportunities to put it away. We had some key turnovers and missed possessions. Lauren Jackson did her thing, and even though Bird struggled throughout, she was good for one (basket).''
Jackson, who shot 9-for-20 from the floor, left the game briefly late in the third quarter with an injured right knee that she hurt diving for a loose ball with about 1:40 left. She returned early in the fourth quarter.
Castro Marques shot 8-for-11, including 5-for-7 on 3s.
Seattle opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run to take a 45-36 lead on Jackson's free throw with 7:23 left. Burse started it with two layups in a 20-second stretch, and Castro Marques had a layup and a 3.
Castro Marques' third 3 of the quarter stretched the Storm's lead to 54-44, its biggest advantage of the game, with 3 1/2 minutes to go. However, McCarville had a three-point play and Moore and Battle had 3s to pull New York within one heading into the final period.
Jackson, leading the league in scoring (22.8 points) and rebounding (9.6) had 11 points and 10 boards in the first half to help the Storm take a 35-34 lead at the break. Seattle shot 52 percent from the field (13-for-25) in the half and limited New York to 33 percent (12-for-36).
