Jackson, Storm hold off Sparks’ late rally

SEATTLE — Lauren Jackson scored 32 points and had eight rebounds as the Seattle Storm withstood a late rally to beat the Sparks, 69-67, on Friday night.

Sue Bird scored 15, and Tanisha Wright had eight points and eight rebounds for Seattle (6-2), which won its third consecutive game.

Tina Thompson scored 20 points, and Marie Ferdinand-Harris and DeLisha Milton-Jones had 10 apiece for the Sparks (2-5), who dropped to 0-5 on the road.

The Sparks rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit to tie the score twice in the fourth quarter, including 61-61 on a basket by Ferdinand-Harris with 3:40 left.

“We just worked really hard and didn’t give up,” Thompson said. “They came out really strong and that’s their MO; they come out and try to get up early and maintain the lead. But we continued to fight back. We knew it was possible, so we just kind of maintained and continued to stick with our game plan and got back into it.”

But Jackson responded with her third three-point basket of the game and an inside basket to give Seattle a 66-61 lead.