Who is Betty Lennox?

The KeyArena crowd swelled to a true sellout of 17,072 fans. The courtside seats featured celebs like former Sonics star "Downtown" Fred Brown, who helped bring the city its last pro championship with an NBA title in 1979.

This was no ordinary game, no regular-season contest in front of a half-empty arena. This was different, with the frenzied crowd, the television cameras.

But one thing stayed the same.

Betty Lennox.

Fans watched the petite Storm guard knife through the Connecticut Sun defense, scoring a team-leading 27 points Sunday to push the WNBA Finals to a decisive Game 3 tonight at KeyArena. Newbie fans were amazed at her scoring, the picturesque jumpers, the powerful one-handed and-ones, the spinning layups through the paint. That brought a smile to Lennox's signature game-day snarl.

"Give Betty an opportunity, and this is what you'll get," she said.

Sometimes it seems as if nothing can rattle her. She experienced the folding of two league franchises, Miami and Cleveland. She went from being a rookie of the year in 2000 to averaging her fewest minutes in her WNBA career last season in Cleveland (16.5).

Then the Cleveland organization disbanded, and Lennox was chosen by the Storm with the sixth pick in the dispersal draft.

The disappointment of how this professional journey might turn out built a protective shield of armor. Yet, something in the hysterics of a historic Sunday night broke through.

A sign that read, "I wanna be like Betty Lennox."

"That right there touched me pretty deeply," said Lennox, whose contract expires after tonight. "It almost brought tears to my eyes."

Lennox, 27, is a self-proclaimed country girl from Hugo, Okla., who comes from deep religious roots. Her childhood was spent rising early before school to haul hay, pick cotton or tend to the cows on her family's farm with five brothers and three sisters.

Too poor for the luxuries of cable television, Lennox said she didn't have any well-known basketball role models — just her brothers, some of whom played in college. Her sisters, meanwhile, made her tough by not babying her when she scraped a knee or busted a lip, or if one of the boys delivered a hard foul.

"They'd say, 'Don't come to me, I told you not to go out there,' " said Lennox.

She toughens at the memory, suddenly defiant again.

"But still, don't get mad 'cause a girl can beat you," she said.

So, this idea of being looked up to? Lennox is still dealing with the idea of the media attention on her after years of being misunderstood.

After dueling with Connecticut forward Nykesha Sales on Sunday, a throng of cameras and reporters hung on Lennox's every word. That rarely happened during the regular season, even though she began her Storm career as the second-leading scorer and rebounder to Lauren Jackson. Lennox broke her nose in late June, which slowed her for a time.

"I'm surprised they want to talk to me," she said while shaking her head with a soft smile after the media dissipated Sunday night. "All this for Betty? Who is Betty Lennox?"

Betty Lennox is the lightning in this swirling Storm cloud.

Betty Lennox could be the playoffs MVP — if Seattle wins the championship tonight.

While Jackson, a 6-foot-5 forward, has struggled against a physical defense and a draining basketball tour that included trips to the Russian league championship and the Athens Olympics, the 5-8 Lennox has improved her production in every round, averaging a team-leading 22.0 points in the Finals on 54 percent shooting.

But that's just Lennox playing what she calls "Betty Ball."

Jackson said her teammate's consistency has helped her focus on what she can contribute — rebounding and defense.

"If Betty goes off again, and I know she will, we'll be OK," said Jackson, who is averaging 15.5 points in the Finals, less than her regular-season average of 20.5.

Jackson is averaging 20.6 points overall in the playoffs (seven games) to Lennox's 13.4.

"Betty has rose to the occasion," said Storm assistant coach Jenny Boucek. "It's not easy to stay ready and be accepting of not being the leading player all the time. But Betty has the strongest mental focus and mental toughness. Sometimes she's sitting on the bench for a while, and we'll put her in to make the biggest play of the game. And she does it."

It's a style of play that's allowing Lennox to sparkle in Seattle's loaded offense. Playoff games are normally more physical, with officials waiting for blood to make a call. That works for Lennox, who spent her time during the month-long Olympic hiatus playing pickup ball at either Franklin High School or Rainier Community Center, in addition to Storm practices.

In those pickup games, she became her comedic self, trash-talking with the guys and working to create her shot when a doubter wasn't giving her respect.

"She's not the No. 1 option because she plays around a lot of stars," said Storm reserve Janell Burse, who has been a close friend with Lennox since the two played at Minnesota in 2001. "That's the good thing about Betty, she doesn't need the ball to create. She's so creative on her own. She's awesome, so quick, gives it all and will sacrifice everything to win a championship."

Sun coach Mike Thibault said he's not going to change anything, even though Lennox twice torched his rookie guard Lindsay Whalen. Lennox even made Whalen, the team's leading scorer in the playoffs, look common, holding her scoreless in 15 minutes in the second half Sunday. Whalen finished with nine points and seven assists.

Thibault noted that Lennox could go on another scoring spree, saying, "She's a great player."

But Lennox said it will be "a total team effort" that brings Seattle its first major professional sports championship since 1979.

And no matter how Game 3 plays out, one thing is certain.

"My confidence is there all the time," she said. "When coach (Anne Donovan) writes what she wants me to do on the board, I put it in the back of my mind and go out there and get it done."

Jayda Evans: 206-464-2067 or jevans@seattletimes.com