Storm scuttles Sun

SEATTLE -- Betty Lennox had another huge night, scoring 23 points to lead the Seattle Storm to their first WNBA title with a 74-60 victory over the Connecticut Sun last night.

Lauren Jackson added 13 points and seven rebounds and Seattle got a big contribution from Kamila Vodichkova, who scored 14 points after being held to a total of 7 in the first two games. The Storm claimed the city's first major professional sports championship in 25 years, going back to the SuperSonics winning the 1979 NBA title. It also gave Seattle coach Anne Donovan her first WNBA crown, having missed in 2001 with Charlotte.Donovan is the first female coach to win a WNBA title, following Houston's Van Chancellor (1997-2000), Los Angeles's Michael Cooper (2001-02), and Detroit's Bill Laimbeer (2003). Lennox, who scored 27 in Seattle's Game 2 victory that evened the series, kept her momentum going in the decisive third game.

Fans chanted, "Betty, Betty, Betty" when Lennox stepped to the free throw line with 2:35 remaining. She made both shots capping a 33-12 run that stretched Seattle's lead to an insurmountable 71-56. They changed it to "M-V-P, M-V-P" when she returned to the line with 1:40 to go, and the fans got what they wanted moments later when commissioner Val Ackerman told the sellout crowd of 17,072 that Lennox was MVP.

"I'm speechless," Lennox said after accepting the award.

`We're not a one-person team or a two-person team," said Seattle's Sue Bird, who scored 8 points. "There's a reason we won tonight and that's because other people stepped up. They tried to take me and Lauren away, and you saw what happened: Betty Lennox. I can't say anything else." Nykesha Sales, who scored a WNBA Finals-record 32 points in Seattle's Game 2 victory, shot 5 of 12 and was held to 18 points. The rest of the Sun starters combined for 26 points on 7-of-31 shooting.