Fever catch an opening win

Tamika Catchings had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Tully Bevilaqua added 14 points to lead the Indiana Fever past the Liberty, 63-51, last night in New York in the opener of their first-round series.

Deanna Jackson had 9 points, including a pair of tiebreaking free throws with 2:59 remaining, as Indiana closed the game with a 14-2 surge after the Liberty came back from a 10-point deficit.

Game 2 in the best-of-three series is tomorrow night in Indianapolis.

Vickie Johnson had 17 points and Becky Hammon 9 for the Liberty.

Storm 75, Comets 67 -- Lauren Jackson shook off a sore back and had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Seattle past host Houston in the opener of their first-round series.

The Storm blew an 11-point lead in the second half, but recovered to stop the Comets, who got 21 points from Michelle Snow. Houston is looking for its first playoff series victory since 2000.