Sue Bird has 20 points, six assists to lead short-handed Storm past Monarchs, 69-56

Bird leads Storm to 69-56 win over Monarchs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sue Bird had 20 points and six assists to lead the short-handed Seattle Storm to a 69-56 victory over the Sacramento Monarchs on Friday night.

Tanisha Wright had 12 points and seven rebounds and Swin Cash added 10 points and six rebounds for the Storm (9-6), who were without leading scorer Lauren Jackson. The All-Star forward is out indefinitely due to a strained left Achilles’ tendon suffered in a loss to Detroit on Wednesday.

Nicole Powell had 13 points and Crystal Kelly added 12 for the Monarchs (3-12), who are 0-2 since general manager John Whisenant fired Jenny Boucek as coach and replaced her with himself.

The Storm outrebounded the Monarchs 37-18 and held them to 33-percent shooting from the floor.