Storm secure crown

? Betty Lennox had two WNBA franchises fold while she was on the roster. After the Cleveland Rockers folded last year, she landed with the Seattle Storm in the dispersal draft.

Now she’s the MVP of the WNBA Finals.

Lennox had another huge night, scoring 23 points to lead Seattle to its first title with a 74-60 victory over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday night.

What happened after the game was hard for Lennox to believe.

“Not only the celebration, the award that I just got. I can’t believe it,” she said. “Me? After everything I’ve been through? I’m speechless right now.”

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 seven in the first two games of the finals.

At the buzzer, the Storm players raced to midcourt for a pileup while yellow and green confetti fell from the rafters.

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’ Michael Cooper (2001-02) and Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer (2003).

“No better candidate than me, huh?” she joked. “Yeah, it’s something that we’ve been striving for. I think there are a lot of great women coaches out there. In order to get to the next level of respect, we have to win championships.”

Lennox, who scored 27 points in Seattle’s Game 2 victory that evened the best-of-three series, kept her momentum going in the decisive third game. She couldn’t seem to miss in the second half.

“Betty was unbelievable,” said Seattle’s Sue Bird, who had eight points. “Two days ago, tonight. They couldn’t stop her.”