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Latest news and information about the WNBA.

• MVP Jackson leads Storm past Mercury in Game 1 (AP)

  Lauren Jackson wasn't available postgame to talk about winning her third WNBA MVP award or the Seattle Storm's win in the opener of the Western Conference finals. Her performance against Phoenix in Game 1 on Thursday night speaks for itself. Jackson had 23 points and a team playoff-record 17 rebounds to lead Seattle to an 82-74 victory over the Mercury.

• Seattle's Jackson selected MVP for third time (AP)

  Seattle Storm forward Lauren Jackson of Australia was selected the WNBA's most valuable player for the third time in her career on Thursday. Jackson was honored before Game 1 of Seattle's best-of-3 Western Conference final against defending champion Phoenix. Also, the Storm's Brian Agler was named the league's coach of the year.

• WNBA playoff schedule and results (Yahoo! Sports)

  Here is the postseason schedule by series.

• Capsules for the WNBA conference finals series (AP)

  A look at the two best-of-three WNBA conference finals, which start Thursday: EASTERN CONFERENCE No. 2 New York (22-12) vs. No. 4 Atlanta (19-15) Season Series: Tied 2-2, with each time winning once on the road. New York: A roster overhaul that brought Cappie Pondexter, Nicole Powell and Taj McWilliams-Franklin to the Liberty in the offseason resulted in a team record for victories one year after...

• Pondexter, Vaughn lead Liberty to East finals (AP)

  Despite finishing with a franchise playoff record for scoring, Cappie Pondexter gave Kia Vaughn all the credit for helping the New York Liberty advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Pondexter scored 30 points, including a tiebreaking jumper with 28 seconds remaining, and Vaughn had a season-high 13 points in extended playing time to lead the Liberty to a 77-74 victory over the Indiana Fever on...

• Seattle and Phoenix in conference finals (AP)

  While the Seattle Storm were on their way to a fifth straight first-round WNBA playoff loss in 2009, Le'Coe Willingham was on her way to a third appearance in the finals -- and her first championship -- as she and the Phoenix Mercury won it all. Last week, Willingham helped the Storm shake that opening-round hex with a two-game sweep of the Los Angeles Sparks.