SACRAMENTO, August 3 (AP) -- The Sacramento Monarchs had six players score in double figures in an 82-76 win over the Seattle Storm on Friday night.
Rebekkah Brunson had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Yolanda Griffith added 13 points and three steals for the Monarchs (16-10), who beat the Storm for the second time in four days. Nicole Powell, Chelsea Newton, and Ticha Penicheiro all had 10 points each for the Monarchs, who trailed for much of the game. Kara Lawson added 12 points off the bench.
"By our standards we were a little bit soft in the first half,'' Sacramento coach Jenny Boucek said. "We just had to toughen up in the second half. And I thought we did that.''
Betty Lennox had 18 points, Iziane Castro Marques added 12 points, and Janell Burse had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Storm (13-15). Lauren Jackson, the league's leading scorer, left the game with a groin injury in the second quarter.
Trailing 17-12, Lawson scored six straight points to keep the Monarchs close as the Storm finished the first quarter leading 20-18.
In the second quarter, Lennox hit a three-pointer to give the Storm their biggest lead at 31-22 with 4:53 left. Nine seconds later, Jackson limped off the floor, and then headed to the locker room with a left groin strain.
The Monarchs cut the Storm's lead to 38-35 on two free throws by Newton, but Sue Bird's shot at the buzzer put Seattle up 40-35. Lennox picked up the slack for Jackson by scoring 10 points in the second quarter.
"I'm O.K.,'' Jackson said of her injury. "Tomorrow we are going to see what's going on (in practice), but I think it's better at this stage.''
The Storm let the Monarchs get within one point when Brunson's basket made it 45-44. Seattle restored the lead to eight points after Tanisha Wright's free throws made it 58-50. The Storm led 62-56 after three quarters.
The Monarchs tied Seattle after a reverse layup by Penicheiro, followed by a layup by Lawson. That tied the game at 65-65 with 5:59 left in the fourth.
Sacramento took its first lead since leading 4-3 in the first quarter when Scholanda Robinson's shot put the Monarchs ahead 69-67 with 5:25 remaining.
Seattle rallied to lead 72-69, until Powell hit a 3-pointer and sparked a 9-0 run capped by back-to-back baskets by Griffith to make it 78-72.
Penicheiro made three free throws in the last 48 seconds to help seal the victory for the Monarchs.
"We know what it takes to win games,'' Newton said. "And for us it takes a lot (of) energy on the defensive end, playing together, and being explosive.''
Seattle, 0-3 this season against Sacramento, found itself in a familiar scenario - the Storm gave up 18 offensive rebounds.
"Number one we got to learn lessons,'' Seattle coach Ann Donovan said. "We gave up 16 offensive boards the first time we played them, 17 the second time, and tonight 18. So at some point, we have to learn lessons.''
