Diana Taurasi took center stage, raised the roof and brought the house down in her professional debut in the Mercury’s season opener Thursday night at America West Arena. Although the 72-66 loss to Sacramento was not the desired result, the top pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft showed she is more than worthy of the hype that has followed her.

“For her first legit game, she did some great things,” said Head Coach Carrie Graf. “I’m sure she’d much rather have a win, but it was a pretty good performance individually.”

The heralded rookie led all scorers with 22 points and showcased her all-around game by compiling three assists, three rebounds and three blocks in 38 minutes. Had she not fouled out with 34 seconds left to play, Taurasi could very well have surpassed the record for most points scored by a WNBA rookie in her first game (23).

In a night of professional firsts for the former University of Connecticut star, undoubtedly the one that had the raucous crowd of 10,493 at it most fever-pitched came when she banked in a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer to end the first half.

“It was lucky,” she laughed.

While Taurasi insists she was not nervous to start the game and her first season in the league, she does notice a difference in the quality of play at the sport’s highest level.

“It’s just another basketball game once you throw the ball up,” she said. “But it’s different. There are bigger, faster athletes who can do a lot more things. I definitely think there’s a level of adjustment and there’s definitely a difference.”

Penny Pick Makes Sense

Taurasi was not the only top pick debuting with the Mercury Thursday night. Penny Taylor, whom Phoenix selected with the No.1 pick in the Dispersal Draft this offseason, scored 21 points and led the team with five rebounds in 34 minutes.

“It’s hard for me to be positive when we get a loss, but I’m happy with the way I played,” said the forward who will compete for her native Australia in the 2004 Olympics this summer.

Graf took it a step further in evaluating Taylor’s first game in the Valley and her value to the club.

“I think Penny showed why she’s an All-Star,” Graf said. “She does the little things. That was a pretty quiet 21 points. She finds a way to put the ball in the hole.”

Crowded House

The excitement and anticipation of Phoenix’s eighth WNBA season generated by the drafting of Taurasi, among other personnel moves, brought back an energy not seen at a Mercury game in quite some time.

“As a team, I thought we were really excited,” Taurasi said. “We had a lot of energy coming out to the game knowing it’s the opener and there’s going to be a lot of people here. They were great throughout the game. They gave us a little push in the second half and we could feel the energy in that place.”

Players do not necessarily need anything to get their juices flowing to begin a new season, but the added electricity in the air was not lost on them either.

“I hope they appreciate the way we fought for them,” Taylor added. “Seeing so many people up there, it does inspire you to play hard and play tough and that’s the way we want to play every night. I hope they appreciated that because we appreciated that.”

Gillom Sighting

Of the many ovations doled out Thursday night, one of the loudest occurred when former Mercury great Jennifer Gillom was shown on the arena’s video screen. The team’s all-time leading scorer sat courtside next to Suns guard Casey Jacobsen and his wife, Brittney and was thrilled by the reception she received.

“It’s always great walking into this arena,” Gillom beamed. “People are always so warm. They just make me feel great and made me miss being out on the court, that’s for sure.”

She Said It

“Seth, you’re my favorite GM ever!”
- Kayte Christensen, in response to Mercury general manager Seth Sulka saying he would pay the fine that will follow the forward’s technical foul assessed in the second half.