Diana Taurasi and Shereka Wright are far apart in terms of celebrity and playing time for the Mercury.

But they do have something in common. They're rookies and learning the hard way that they have to pay their dues in the WNBA.

The favorable officiating calls they usually got in college are now few and far between; referees aren't inclined to give rookies much leeway.

Taurasi, the league's No. 1 draft pick out of Connecticut, got that point driven home in the Mercury's 61-60 loss at Indiana on Saturday. On her last shot of the game, one that would likely have given the Mercury a victory, many thought she was fouled. No whistle.

"As a rookie, you're not going to get those calls," Taurasi said. "You've just got to live with it. As the years go by, you'll get those, but you can't focus on that.

"But sometimes the inconsistencies are hard to play with. That's the toughest thing the calls are inconsistent."

Wright, a former star at Purdue, is under 6 feet tall but plays bigger. She likes to muscle her way inside and challenge bigger players defensively.

For the first time in years, the zebras are watching her like a hawk.

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"With my style of play, you've got to show the officials that you intend to keep doing it, be aggressive," she said. "You'll get those calls, but it takes time. I'm a rookie, and there will be times I don't get the calls.

"You just have to keep being aggressive."

Coach Carrie Graf, whose team is 8-8 and has equaled its number of wins from a year ago, tries to get the Mercury above .500 Wednesday at Los Angeles, the fifth on a seven-game road trip that has produced 2-2 record.

She counts on a lot of players, and she knows that when either Taurasi or Wright mixes it up on the court, they're likely the ones to get tagged with a foul.

"One thing our rookies have to learn is how to initiate contact and create a foul or three-point play and get to the line," she said. "That's a skill you need to learn, and our rookies need to learn how to do that a little better.

"Generally, I think the officiating has been pretty good. But I think veteran players know how to, for want of a better word, work the referees a little bit. They've played the game longer and know how to use their body to really create contact and draw a foul. It's adjusting to calls in the league and the style of play."

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